CABINET SITS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18919, 7 February 1927, Page 9

CABINET SITS.

IMPORTANT DECISIONS EXPECTED. •AVSTSALIAK AST> j.j, I.ASLE ASSOCIATION) (Received February 6th, 11.0 p.m.) LONDON, February 0. Cabinet spent the week-end iu dope (ouch with Sir Miles Lampson and Mr O.Malley, and important decisions regarding the di.-posal vi British delen'o lxjoi>- .lit i>x|.£i_t....l <.;irly ill tll-1 W C>K . In.; 111.-r.H'-l ■.'.j-1 • -11 i:■ ■1 ■ i '■! !*-j----ponuent fciiys that so i;>r ;is ti!" UnUsh uoveimucni is coiicnif il Hi" duel polity is to iiuenuu I'liina iroin Wie. uniJlt'tf' f-ysU-iu ol uriuat foreign supervision ami control, aim tecoiuny, to prot'.cl. lilc in the transition nag*. - . Any step on tin- part ct the Canton or Shanghai Govnihieins lownnls, assuinii; inc Miieiy ol loreigiiers in £-linngliai uoulil im welcomeo. Theie is no picsenf. intention ol 111" bienkillj: i.'l K'liilioiis with lius."iii. in spite o! the iiudoubted part she lias played in .stirring up auti-Rritish feeling, but the question ol dealing in .sonif other nay with the persistent hostility of Moscow is engaging Cabinet's attention. It is understood that while Cabinet does not contemplate the. breaking olf of commercial relations with Russia, it may be embarrassed in Parliament nest week when 120 Conservatives threaten to raise the Russian issue and demand the withdrawal of her privileges. Cabinet considered the proposal to divert troopships to Hong-Kong, but the Australian Press Association gathers it is improbable that an immediate decision will be reached on this point, because the transporta have only left Gibraltar, so their destiniK tion need not be finally decreed for at least a fortnight. lb is not a matter en.'ily decked, because consideration has arivsn that the diversion of troops may be wrongly interpreted, and be hailed as a further blow at British prestige in the Far East, but a stronger consideration is whether Chen is m the position, after what happened at Hanpkow, to guarantee the fulfilment of his pledge that no harm shall befall foreign nationals in Shanghai, and thus obviate the need for providing a barrier between the mob s excesses and British national*.

PEKING DRAFT TREATY. (MTBTBALIA* A»l> V.t. CABLt ASSOCIAIHW.) TOKIO, February 4. 'flie Foreign Office is now considering the Peking draft treaty, in which China frankly sets out her desires regarding futuro relations. It is understood that tho Government regards tho draft as wholly ucaotiable China's proposals aro drastic, but nevertheless there is rea , S I ° n t0 fn? that they will bo generally acceptable. Tho final decision depends on the outcome of tho situation. Well-informed circles now fear complications atShanghai, pointing out that Bimultaneous united China protests were received from Pekin, Shanghai, and Hankow against the invasion of tho British defence forces. Notwithstanding the pro-British movement in the Upper House, seoßing active naval and military co-opera-tion, tho Government's position is adamantly maintained.

BRITISH PROPOSALS. MR CHEN'S REPLY. (AtSiHALUK AKD K.Z. CABLE ABsictAtlOlf.) SHANGHAI, February 4. The British proposals have booh handed to Mr Eugene Chen, accompanied by tho following aide, rnetrtolre:—

"AVlion a satisfactory settlement has been reached in respect to tho British Concessions at Hankow and Kiu-kiang, and when the assurances given by the National Government that they will not countenance any alteration, except by negotiation, of the Btatus of tho British Concessions and international settlements, his Majesty's Government will bo prepared to concede at oilco, on tho lines indicated in the enclosure horeto, a large part of what is desired of them by tho Chineso National Party. | So liberal and generous a step cannot, in their view, bo regarded Otherwise, than as an earnest of the fair and conciliatory spirit Willi which they aro animated." Mr Chen, in the courta of his reply communicated to Mr O. St. C. O'Malley, states that his Government i* pre4>ared to consider ahd discuss the terms outlined as the basis of a comprehensive and reasoned settlement of the existing differences between Britain and China, provided that tho terms relating to tho Concessions and interna* tinnal settlements and other matters of exceptional character and implication art not discussed by local 6r other Chinese authorities, who cahilot represent Nationalist China and its Organ of leadership, the Chinese Nationalist Party. "His Majesty's Government invito tho National Government," he eays, "to regard tho step proposed as an earnest of a conciliatory spirit, it is not easy to reconcile this claim with the feverish concentration of British forces now progressing and consequent war atmosphere and war neurosis created.

JAPAN ALARMED.

MARINES IN READINESS. (SrOsif "Sra" Slavics.) (Received February 6th, 11.6 p.m.) TOKIO, February o. Acting on information of which the public is ignorant, tho Admiralty hag ordered 300 marines to board tho Cruiser Tenryu and proceed to Sasebo. and with four destroyers there hold themselves in readiness to go on to Shanghai at tho shortest notice. Japanese correspondents in China are sending gloomy reports of the situation both in Peking and Hankow. The Navy Department report* a probable schism in the Cantonese ranks, with the extremists taking control. Other reports state that agitators are flooding to Shanghai to precipitate trouble.