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IN THIS MARGIN.
NOTHING
ΤΟ
BE
WRITTEN
Minutes.
It is incredible that at this late
88
date Mr. Gull should still talk about
"bluff value". One can, it is true, bluff
without anything in the shape of force
behind one's bluff, but it is a dangerous
game where high politics are concerned, since
to have one's bluff called may involve
national humiliation.
It is not correct to say that it is not
intended to withdraw ships from Shanghai and
Canton. One at each place is to be retained "as long as possible, but all may eventually
be withdrawn.
"!
The same arguments about leaving ships
at Shanghai and Canton do not apply to ships
on the Yangtze, since one of the reasons for
withdrawing ships from the Yangtze was that
the Japanese would not allow them to be
relieved or even to move freely on the river,
could have been
and such a position should not be allowed to
continue indefinitely. These considerations
do not apply to Shanghai, and only partially
to Canton, as Mr. Gull himself appears to
recognise. What is true of both Yangtze and
ports such as Shanghai and Canton is that we
have thought it advisable in the face of
strong Japanese hints to adopt a policy of
gradual withdrawal, and consider that we shall
lose less in prestige by doing so than by
having the ships immobilised in their present
positions (see Shanghai telegram No. 1194 of
20th October). At the same time it is obvious-
ly desirable not to give the Japanese or anyone
else/
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