THE BILL FOR CHINA.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 280, 26 November 1928, Page 6

THE BILL FOR CHINA.

According to the Secretary of State for War, the British taxpayer will have to find four millions for the cost of the British expeditionary force in China. It is money he can ill afford, but if he is philosophical he will say that the expenditure was unavoidable and that the bill might have been much larger. No one can really think now that the dispatch of troops was anything but absolutely necessary. What might have happened to the British community and other foreigners in Shanghai had these troops not been held there in readiness may easily be imagined, considering the chaotic state into which China had drifted. Britain may congratulate herself that British life and property emerged from the crisis with so little loss. The forbearance of the protective force was remarkable, and though many of the Chinese Nationalists regard Briton as the head and front of Europe's offending, it is probable that the way in which the crisis was handled by. the British Government and the British commanders on the spot has done much to restore British prestige and Chinese confidence in our good faith. The general who commanded the British forces in China makes the important point that the Chinese are not anti-British, but pro-Chinese. That is to say, they are actuated not so much by dislike of the foreigner as by a desire to obtain full rights for their own country.

But while the Secretary for War refers to the "marked improvement" in the Chinese situation, which permits a steady reduction in the British forces there, news comes that negotiations between China and Japan for the settlement of outstanding differences have broken down, and that newspapers in Tokyo aro discussing "a revival of the AngloJapanese alliance." What would be the scope of this is not stated, but it should be realised in Japan, as elsewhere, that there is no prospect whatever of anything like the old AngloJapanese allianoe being concluded. The policy embodied in tkat alliance was set aside some years ago, in deference to the Dominions and the United States, and was "replaced by a general agreement among the Powers in respect to Pacific questions. Britain would not think of reviving this policy, nor is it at all likely that she would consider acting with Japan alone in the settlement of Chinese questions. Such action would arouse resentment in China and suspicion in America. It will be the policy of Britain to promote a friendly settlement between all the Powers concerned and China, on the great outstanding questions.