THE New Zealand Herald MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1927. NEW TERMS TO CHINA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19549, 31 January 1927, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1927. NEW TERMS TO CHINA.

Strictly speaking, the terms to China announced by Sir Austen Chamberlain are not new. They contain certain new elements, sufficiently cardinal and definite to provide a fresh focus for negotiations; but they are in harmony with Britain's attitude toward China for many a day. At the Washington Conference British sp rl ' p smen pledged their country's sympathy with the Chinese aspiration for national independence and pro-gress,-and joined with other Powei'S in covenanting to- promote its realisation. The difficulty has been with China herself. Had she been united and practically earnest, there would have been success long ago for the policy so hopefully enunciated at Washington. In effect, the terms now offered take the problem back to the point there favoured as a basis for solution, and it is greatly to Britain's credit, as French comment suggests, that so frankly conciliatory a statement has been made by her Foreign Minister. That there has beer, criticism of the War Office is inevitable. Party champions like Mr. Lloyd George instinctively make capital out of such occasions. There may have been undue eagerness to assure the country that adequate steps were being taken to protect British lives and interests. But Mr. Lloyd George, as a war Prime Minister knew well the value of publicity on occasion, and his love for a popular hearing provokes effective rejoinder to his description of Mr. Amery an "explosive atom." From Japan comes a quieter and calmer opinion: Britain doe? not desire a clash, but in the emergency has been compelled to adopt military measures. Ready to defend, but wishful to negotiate on a generous basis, she offers these terms;

They have in tbsm, as Mr. Lloyd George himself has admitted, both wisdom and moderation. They are made to both the Governments in China —that at Peking, nominally representative but actually unable to speak for all China, and that in the south., pressing for sovereignty but as yet without status. This dual addressing of the terms is an important departure. Theoretically, the Peking Government is the only one capable of negotiating; practically, the Cantonese cause is in the ascendant. Addressing them both, Britain oversteps the usual bounds of diplomatic conversations, but the situation calls for unorthodox treatment. The terms themselves include offers that should be palatable to all Chinese, whether o! the north or the south, desiring national autonomy. To allow Chinese law courts to deal independently with cases in which British people are concerned along with Chinese, to give Chinese law a place in British courts, and to admit the liability of British nationals to Chinese taxation, are certainly innovations of considerable significance. As the addressing of the terms to the Cantonese Government as well as that located in Peking is calculated to prove to the aggressive southerners that Britain does not make common cause with the established regime to thwart them, so the terms offered should carry conviction that Britain b prepared to go to great lengths to help China govern herself. It is inconceivable that, in the present situation, she should go further, She cannot desert her menaced people: hence the need for military precautions. But, short of doing that, she will do all possible to expedite the fulfilment of the Chinese nationalist hope. The wisdom of the terms is as marked as their moderation. The onus is still on China. It must appeal to all thoughtful Chinese that, in the interests of their own I country, its civil strife and rampant i lawlessness must cease. There are conditions in the terms that imply this necessity too clearly to be missed. The Chinese law codes need completion on a fully national footing, there is much irregular taxation. discrimination against British subjects and goods has been common, and the whole system of taxation calls for organisation in-» comprehensive way. These necessities have emphasis in the terms, whose special merit is that they make detailed promises which are contingent only on the extent to which China is prepared to earn their fulfilment. The inclusion of these conditions cannot reasonably be resented.

They are stipulations in China's own interests, as have been many made heretofore, in general terms, by the Powers in concert. To have made overtures without any stipulations at all would have been mistaken as craven weakness, and at the present juncture would have been unwarrantable. Now that Britain has given a lead in this very precise and generous fashion, it falls to the contending Governments to make the next move. They are given inducement to settle their differences and to co-operate in ridding their country of misrule. It may fti<-*e insufficient. In any event, time »vdl elapse ere they make up their minds and give a worthy answer. In the meantime, it is satisfactory to know that Britain's offer to them is accompanied by measures to safeguard her own nationals.