BRITISH POLICY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 64, 17 March 1927, Page 9

BRITISH POLICY

CHAMBERLAIN'S SPEECH

FORMIDABLE DIFFICULTY

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

LONDON, 9th February

. Sir Austen Chamberlain, Foreign Secretary, explained the Government's attitude in regard to the China question in a speech at Birmingham. He reminded his hearers that over a year ago, in a speech preceding the departure of the British delegation to the Tariff Conference at Peking, he outlined tlie policy of the British Government towards China in these words:--

"Our'only wish is for a strong, united, independent, orderly, and prosperour China. AVc, on our side, will contribute all we can; wo arc ready to meet China halfway. We are ready to .Jfilinfluish apeeiaj lights just ift .Enffioi-

tion as the Chinese Government can assure to our nationals the duo enjoyment of their ordinary rights of foreigners in their country." IMPERIALISM NONSENSE. t '-t^ 3 been ' and ii; is» the policy of His Majesty's Government." continued the Foreign Secretary. "All talk about British Imperialism in this connection is nonsense. In the Far iast, at any rate, we are a nation of shopkeepers. All we want is to keep our shops open, and to be on good terms with our customers. We realise, no less than the most patriotic Chinese Nationalist, that the old treaties are' out of date, and we desire to put our relations with China on a new basis suitable to the times We have long realised that there must be a change, and we hoped that it would ]p possible to negotiate the arrangements for this change, a China united under one central Governm°n}- There is no such Government at this moment, but the demand for treaty revision has become so insistent and is fundamentally so reasonable that, m spite of the difficulties involved by the prevailing dissensions, we must try to negotiate this change with the contending Governments in the vortex of a civil war. That this was our intention was made perfectly clear in the memorandum on British policy in Ohma, published on 26th December. It is extraordinarily difficult, but we shall persevere h, the attempt because we believe it is the right thing to do. CHANGES DESIRED. '/The principal matters which, the Uanese desire to see changed in the old treaty system are, first, the extraterritorial position, by which foreigners can only be tried in their own Courts and by their own laws; second, the tariff provisions by which China cannot raise the duties on foreign goods: and third, the quasi-independent status of the Concession areas. We are prepared for change on all these points, for the present system is antiquated: unsuited to the conditions of to-day, and no longer affords protection to our merchants. Two days ago a proposal was laid by our representatives before the Chinese authorities, both in North and South, by which His Majesty's Government are prepared to recognise the modern Chinese Law Courts (without the attendance of. a British official) as competent Courts for cases brought by British plaintiffs or complainants. WHAT BEITAIN OFFERS. /' Hif, Majesty's Government also state their readiness to apply in British Courts m China the existing modern Chinese civil and commercial codes and duly enacted subordinate legislation. We will go further than this as soon as all the Chinese codes and judicial administration are ready. As regards Chinese taxation, we are prepared to make British subjects liable to pay regular Chinese taxation not involving discrimination against British subjects or goods. This would include taxation levied under a national tariff as and when such law is promulgatedand so far as we alone can effect such an object, removes the last obstacle to tun tariff autonomy. As regards Concession areas, we are prepared to enter into local arrangements according to the particular circumstances of each port.-either for the amalgamation of the administration with that of adjacent areas under Chinese control, or for some other method of handing over the administration to the Chinese while assuring to the British community some voice in municipal matters. NO GOVERNMENT OF WHOLE COUNTRY. China hall-way. You will see that in this programme we go much more than half-way But lam certain that it is tho right and the wise course to take -I am thinking not of the •inconveniences of tho moment, but of our relations with China for the next hundred years These proposals can bo put into toreo by unilateral action of His Majesty s Government. For the moment there can be no new treaty, for a treaty can only be signed and ratified with a recognised Government, and owing to the conditions produced by civil war we cannot at present recognise any Government in China as the Government ot tho whole country." ANTI-BRITISH CRY. One of the difficulties in dealing with «io Nationalist Party, continued Sir Austen Chamberlain, arose from tho fact that they have deliberately and persistently utilised an anti-British war cry in order to rally their adherents louud the simple and easily comprehensible banner inscribed "Down with tho British." This anti . British taken up by the powerful Nationalist Varty which had its ramifications throughout China and through all Cliincso communities abroad, and it was undoubtedly the most dangerous factor in tho present situation. This cry had been used to arouso mob fury against us, nnd it remained to bo seen whether the Government which now claimed to represent the Chinese Nationalist I arty was willing and able to control tins mob element insofar as its activities aflectcd our relations- with the Chinese people. MOB VIOLENCE. n V.^'V c, veMts Of 1925 Provided tho anti-British propagandists with tho kind of material most useful for them At fehanghai there is a great interim" tional settlement governed by an elective municipality, which was at that time presided over by an American chairman. This municipality has its own police force. In consequence of an outbreak of mob violence, the police were compelled to fire. Tho British Government have no control over these police but tho fact that they had British officers was seized upon by the propagandists to represent tho incident as an act of British aggression. Sim?larly, when an armed procession of Chinese opened fire on tho Anglo-French concession at Canton, and the troops in tho concession were obliged to rt in sell-defence, tho fact that a part though only . a p art , of those troops' me British, was again seized upon as material tor anti-British propaganda. Die extremely friendly and considei.ite attitude of tho British Govern, ment towards China, as shown at thWashmgton Conference and on many other occasions, was contemptuously brushed aside. A boycott of British goods was put into force throughout China and long after the boycott had ceased m the north, it was continued at Canton, winch was the centre of the influence of the Nationalist Party claiming to represent Chinese nationalism." NO GUARANTEE OF SAFETY. Sir Austen Chamberlain explained the recent events in China and the wonderful self-control of tho British Marines. "It was clear from these episodes " he said "that there is no guarantee for the safety of British lives in Chinese cities under the authority of the Nationalist Government in the present revolutionary state of affairs. Any incident might have led to bloodshed It was equally clear that the British forces on the spot were insufficient to protect British subjects. It was obious that, with tho advance of the Nationalist forces towaids Shanghai, similar danger threatened tho large British community residing there, and the immense interests which British enterprise has built up in that great city. THKSAT TO SHANGHAI. , "Further, whereas' the comparatively small communities at Hankow ami lvuikiiing could bo safely evacuated to Shanghai at. short notice, ■there could be no speedy evacuation of tho much larger British population at the latter town. I do not say that the threat of bloodshed and massacre hangs oyer_

Shanghai. I hope and I believe that it does not. But it would be a clear dereliction of duty on the part of His Majesty's Government to leave the British at Shanghai.without protection after what has passed at Hankow. We must have a force there to protect them if danger arises; and if such armed force is sent at all, obviously it must be of sufficient strength to achieve its object. _"His Majesty's Government decided, therefore, as a precautionary mea- ''■ sure, to send troops to China for the protection of the British community in Shanghai. The composition of the force is a guarantee that it is only intended for strictly defensive purposes. I hope that no occasion will arise for its use. There is no intention on our part to hold Shanghai, if we can obtain satisfactory assurances that what happened at Hankow will not be repeated at Shanghai." LABOUR LEADER'S ATTITUDE. V The Eight Hon. J. H. Thomas, MP in a speech at Newton Abbot, referred to China. "With all the possibilities that may loom out of so serious a situation," he said, "this is not an occasion when any leader of the Opposition, or anyone who has held responsible office under the Crown, should take advantage to exploit the sins of the Government. I don't know whether it was necessary to send troops or not. lhat^is a matter that the Government of the Day, wth fuller knowledge and responsibility, must themselves determine, but I have no hesitation in sayi that once the Government made up ] its mind that troops were necessary tor the defence of our nationals I infinitely prefer the sending of a bis army rat her than a handful of men " (A cry of "Shame.") "I "Let us see whether it is you or I who ought to be ashamed," replied Mr. Thomas. "No one can question that the Government, whether Tory, Labour, or Liberal, has a responsibility for the protection of human life. Accepting that, common sense says that in a difficult situation, where you have organised mobs and the danger of unforeseen outbreaks, it is far more likely that the la jer force would be a protection and prevent war rather than the smaller force that p iple might take advantf£4 (Cheers, and some cries of No. ') The question for us is what in the circumstances is the best means t secure peace." MR. MACDONALD AND LABOUR CRITICS. Protesting against alleged misrepresentation of the Labour Party's attitude, the Eight Hon. J. Kamsay MacDonald, M.P., at Daventry, said theLabour Party had been consistent throughout. Our simple task was to get Chinese nationality recognised, and to get ourselves out of the present tight position without the intervention of mobs or arms. "We have to turn to Mr. Chen, the Foreign Secretary of the Canton Government, and say, 'Tour Nationalist demands have our compete support, but we must warn you that if you cannot control mobs no effort of ours can prevent trouble or keep those Nationalist demands of yours in the foreground. Therefore, negotiate; negotiate every | minute; do nothing but negotiate.' ' "But that is not enough for us. We must also turn to bur own Government and say, 'Face the facts, 'treat China as you do Japan, get out of your entanglement of imposed treaties. Tour Christmas memorandum was good. Your Foreign Declaration on 22nd January was excellent. We admit you have the problem of the protection of life still on your hands. Whenever you decided to send that much-advertised defence force you began to play with fire. By pressing Mr. Chen to negotiate, the Labour Party has done more for tho protection of life in Shanghai than your defence force will do. Tou are now bringing • another element on to the stage which, in the very nature of things, must have a reaction different from the beneficial one of the Foreign Office communique. Tou have to estimate your risks and balance them up, and when doing so pray remember that your actions may have a different meaning in China from what they have in Whitehall."

"That is the position the Labour Party occupies to-day," Mr. Mac Donald proceeded. "I'emphatically protest against partisan newspapers trying to make that position of ours appear to be what they call dividing the nation on a great national crisis. We are advising and counselling the nation, and the words we use are words of wisdom and of ripeness of "experience " (Cheers.)