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(a) That the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
should prepare a document setting forth our policy
in China in clear terms, and that the Cabinet should
then consider what was the best method of communicating
it to the public opinion of this country and the world,
e.g.
by a statement to the League of Nations or by some
other method of publicity.
(b) That the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
should ascertain the views of the British Minister at
Peking and the Consul-General at Shanghai as to what,
in their opinion, should be done on the arrival or
approach of the troops now under orders in various
alternative contingencies, e.g., no change in the present
situation, either from the military point of view or
that of public order: or, opposition by Sun Chuan Fang
to the landing of the troops at Shanghai; and what the
relations are to be between the forces and the
Municipality of Shanghai, which is international.
(c) That the Secretary of State for War should make
detailed enquiries as to what accommodation could be
made available at Hong Kong Singapore, or other
British ports in the East, in case events should render
it desirable to disembark any of the forces now under
orders for Shanghai before their arrival there:
(a) That the Secretary of State for War should have
authority to allow the transport containing a Battalion
of the Suffolk Regiment from Gibraltar to proceed
direct to Shanghai, in order that the Indian Battalion
already sent there might be balanced by a British
Battalion.
•
(e) That the First Lord of the Admiralty should
ascertain whether it would not be possible for
communication