BRITAIN IN CHINA

Evening Star, Issue 21078, 15 April 1932, Page 12

BRITAIN IN CHINA

13,000 CIVILIANS OVER WIDE AREA FINANCIAL INTERESTS In what way is Great Britain affected by the hostilities which have broken out between China and Japan? Many people are asking that question. An article by Mr E. M. Gull, formerly secretary of file Associated Chambers of Commerce in China, and Hongkong, which appeared recently in the ‘ News-Chronicle ’ is designed to answer it—not in relation to Britain’s position as member of the League of Nations, with which most people are familar, but in respect- of our responsibilities in China itself, and through them in the Pacific. There is first the'' .simple fact that there are a little over 13,000 British civilians in China, a total which excludes the 4,500 living in the British Colony of Hongkong when fhe last census was taken.

About 13,000 are missionaries, most of the remainder being business men and their families, while a small proportion comprises professional men, the personnel of our diplomatic and Consular Services and Britons in the employ of the Chinese Government. They are all pursuing their lawful avocations and are entitled to security of life and property in doing so. Normally they receive protection m part from" the Chinese, in part from our own authorities. RACIAL FEELING. But the moment racial or national feeling is aroused, as the Japanese have aroused it. the degree oi protection to ho relied upon from the Chinese authorities becomes uncertain and the responsibilities of our own are correspondingly increased. _ _ The largest British community is in Shanghai, where in the middle of last year there were between 8,000 and 9,000. , „, . -. ~ la Tientsin and Peking and othei northern ports there arc approximately 2,600; in Hankow and other places in the Yangtso Valley there are approximately 1,200; in Canton there are about 400, and in other southern ports about 500. The distances separating these scattered communities are in some cases very "rent. From Shanghai to Hankow, for instance, it is nearly 600 miles. Between Shanghai and Chugkmg the furthest port on the Yangtse River, there are over 1.400 miles. Shanghai and Hongkong are themselves separated by over 800 miles. . Thus, viewed from the simplest and most direct standpoint, the crisis in China involves a very great problem for our authorities. When viewed from others ic becomes still more serious. At a time when every pound's worth of trade is important, trade has been brought practically to a standstill m one of the biggest ports of the world. Put Shanghai out of action and in effect you close the Yangtse Valley. Shut that great valley and you throttle nearly half China’s foreign trade. Do that and you destroy more than halt tlio ’trade which China does with the United Kingdom—representing, roughly speaking, in a normal year, between eight and ten millions stalling worth of our manufactures. JAPAN’S GRIEVANCES. Japan has had many and genuine Grievances, among them an organised boycott of her goods, which, however, before she bombed Chapei, the Chinese auarter in the northern part of Shanghai, the Chinese authorities had agreed to terminate. It seems, to say the least, a little hard that, because her naval authorities felt dissatisfied with the assuraiices which they had received, oiu trade should ho made to suner so heavily. „ . , 13ut these two big facts —the danger in which British subjects have been placed, not only in Shanghai, but throughout China, and the stoppage of a large part of our trade —:are not the only ones involved. Interests associated with commerce, hut at the same time distinct from them, are also concerned’-our railway interests, for example, Several of China’s most important railways, noablv the Shanghai-Nanking, the Tien-tsin-Pukow, and the Peking-Mukden, have been built with British capital. The balances of principal outstanding at the end of 1930 on these three lines alone was close on £5,000,000. What proportion of the total amount of British capital invested in China, estimated at between 250 and 300 million sterling, can correctly bo placed in a-category separate from that of trade, which presumably includes the money sunk in banking, insurance, and shipping offices and such like, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to say. But the figure is certainly a largo one.

BRITISH CAPITAL IN JEOPARDY. In any case, in the event of a wholesale collapse of law and order in China (such as the Soviet is credited with trying to bring about, and responsible British men in China regard as a possible outcome of the present situation), a great deal of British capital would he in serious jeopardy. Beyond these considerations lie those involved in the question, how far does Japan intend to go p She claims to be acting hi self-de-fence. If this is so, tho situation is not beyond tho resources of diplomacy, which 'might, indeed, turn it to good account by providing for the demilitarisation of tho whole Shanghai area, in which China’s sovereignty would bo recognised, but under conditions which assured peace and good government for all. On Hie other hand, it Japan is, in fact, unfolding a programme of a different character, if she is aiming at an entirely now position for herself, one of complete domination in China, wo arc confronted with a situation with which diplomacy alone would bo unable to deal.

For in that case not only would the “ open door ’’ for tiro trade of all countries he threatened, hut, wore Japan successful in such a .scheme, the security of our trade routes in the Pacific, and the existing status of Australia and New Zealand, would bo threatened too. However, at the moment there is no need to follow out that train of thought.