THE HANKOW AGREEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 44, 22 February 1927, Page 8

THE HANKOW AGREEMENT.

After many days of conflicting rumours and incoherent reports we are now informed that the British representative in China has succeeded in arranging an agreement regarding Hankow with the Cantonese Foreign Minister. We cannot discuss here the few details that are available, but it is some satisfaction to know that it has been found possible to bring about a peaceful settlement of a dispute which at one time seemed likely to involve Britain in a serious conflict in the Far East, and even to imperil the prestige and authority that she has enjoyed so long in Asia. Some surprise may be expressed in certain quarters at the placable attitude that Mr. Eugene Chen has suddenly assumed, after his first outpouring of threats and defiances. The explanation of the change is no doubt to be found in the resolute policy which Britain has maintained ever since the unfortunate retreat from Hankow. That retirement, necessary or inevitable as it may have been, certainly produced in China the impression that the British Government was disinclined to make a bold stand for its rights, and encouraged among the Cantonese the belief that at last they had the hated foreigners "on the-run." The dispatch of British troops for the defence of Shanghai came with a sudden shock of disillusionment on the Cantonese, and marks the turningpoint in this phase of the struggle. But, as we have already pointed out, the peaceful adjustment of the Hankow difficulty does not mean the solution of the Chinese puzzle. For apart from everything else, Shanghai is still in grave danger, and is in fact menaced by precisely the same perils as compelled the withdrawal from Hankow. The recent defeat of the Northern troops by the Cantonese makes the capture of Shanghai virtually certain, and if the native city is once swarming with thousands of armed Chinese, whether refugees or victors, the European concession will be able to rely for safety only on the British contingents that are now or will be on the spot. The course of events during the past week has amply justified the decision of the British Government to send troops to the Far East, and at the present juncture it is well to remember that, in spite of the exigencies of party politics, its action has been endorsed by the Opposition as well as by its own supporters. Five weeks ago Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald, through the Socialist magazine "Forward, ,, appealed to the Cantonese for a peaceful settlement. He pointed out that if the Hankow difficulty were left to the arbitrament of "riotous crowds," war would be inevitable. He charged the Canton Government with responsibility for the threats that so nearly precipitated a conflict at Hankow, and he warned the Cantonese that if they surrendered their authority to bloodthirsty mobs elsewhere they would be morally liable for the consequences. Mr. Mac Donald thus completely justified the dispatch of troops to China, and it is not for us to explain why his attitude toward the whole question hjs shaded gg somplct.ebr since then.