560
part of China and cause trouble in Malaya, where his party
is very strong and where the Kwok Mai Tong which he
controls is a source of great anxiety to the Government,
the consequences of which might be very serious,
The only means of preventing these consequences,
I believe, would be to go a step further than is proposed and remove Sun from Canton. This, I take it, H.M's Govern- ment are not prepared to do and no one can say what the
resulte would be, if they did so.
All that Sun asked was that I would represent
to H&M's Government and the British Minister the position
which he took up and the extent to which he was willing to
reduce is claims. Should I have refused to transmit his
views? I thought not. I thought it my duty to place them before Your Grace and the British Minister in Peking in the hope that this grave danger to British interests might be averted. If I had not done so, He would according to
By trans- his own statements have taken action at once. mitting the telegrams at least some delay was secured during
which a solution might be found,
You will probably ask, as I did, why he did not put forward his views through the Consular Body in
Canton