King Country Chronicle Saturday, April 9, 1927. THE PROBLEMS OF CHINA.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 2409, 9 April 1927, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, April 9, 1927. THE PROBLEMS OF CHINA.

While Mr. Ramsay MacDonald may be quite sincere in his criticism of Britain's policy in China, his views on the world-wide problem will scarcely have the approbation of the English people living in that land of chaos and unrest. Mr. Eugene Chen and other leaders of the Nationalist Party in China have repeatedly stated that they will safeguard the interests of foreign Powers if the British troops are withdrawn, but events have proved that he has not the power even if he had the desire to fulfil this promise. These troops were sent for defensive and not aggressive purposes. To carry out Mr. MacDonald’s suggestion and leave the British residents to the mercy of the Cantonese would be a suicidal policy. The Cantonese military leader Chiang Kai-Shek states that the looting of Nanking was the work of his undisciplined followers. If he cannot control his own army and safeguard the foregn residents, then Britain and other Powers have the right to take steps to do so.

The Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Sir Austen Chamberlain, was ready with a fitting reply to the Labour members’ charges of militarism and jingoism. He stated that Britain was willing and ready to negotiate to meet the Nationalist spirit as soon as China could give foreigners the same justice and security as the Chinese obtained elsewhere in the civilised world.

Mr. MacDonald’s suggestion to refer the Nanking outrages to the League of Nations would be quite sound if there was a responsible Chinese Government to negotiate with. At the present time there is no such authority. The Northerners and Southerners are still fighting, and neither can control their respective forces. Britain and the other Powers cannot interfere between these two factions, and are only concerned in the safeguarding of their nationals and their interests.

The Labour Party is out to harass the Government in a great crisis. Mr. Ramsay MacDonald’s suggestion to withdraw the British troops and submit the Chinese question to the League of Nations at this stage is both futile and dangerous. The Baldwin Government or any other political party in Britain is as anxious to avoid war in China as the Labour Party. It is fully realised by all these parties that China has good cause to resent the treatment she has received from foreign Powers in the past. Britain has offered a basis of negotiation to deal with these matters. In the meantime, until an agreement has been reached, the lives and properties of her nationals must be safeguarded.