BRITAIN AND CHINA

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 December 1926, Page 5

BRITAIN AND CHINA

THREATS OF CANTONESE.

TRADE BOYCOTT WEAPON.

(Australian & N.Z. Cable Assn.) (By Cable—Press Assn—Copyright.)

LONDON, November 30

The “Dally News” states that besides the China Squadron, there are numerous international warships off Hankow. The fact remains that Hankow is six hundred miles from the coast, and the level of the water and the Yangtsze will fall in the next three months. The seven hundred foreigners at Hankow are a mere handful among the population of a million,

A high authority in China says that the rescue measures are Insufficient, and if Britain yields at Hankow, she must yield at Shanghai and Tientsin, which would lead to disaster, Mr Guall, secretary of the British Chambers of Commerce, has arrived in London. He says that a member of the Cantonese Cabinet recently informed him the Cantonese were aiming at control of the whole of China, and were determined to deprive foreigners of the treaty rights obtained in 1842. They were anti-British, because they believed Britain was the chief obstacle to their aim. They would not abandon the Bolshevik connection until other foreigners were ousted. The Bolshevik menace in China was very real, and at present greatly underrated. The present trouble in Hankow was foretold him by the Cabinet member. The Cantonese believed that complete paralysis of trade and industry in Hankow, and later in Shanghai, was their most effective weapon. Britain should continue to be ready to negotiate, but ought simultaneously to nai<e it plain that she is determined to defend her subjects’ rights. QUESTIONS IN COMMONS. LONDON. November 29. In the House of Commons, Mr Ramsay MacDonald inquired what was the position at Hankow. Sir Austen Chamberlain replied that it was generally easier, though the general strike had made great progress there. Mr H. W. Looker inquired: Will the naval forces be strengthened, in view of the fears of an outbreak involvingbloodshed?

Sir A. Chamberlain replied: We are at present discussing this matter with ths Admiralty.