Secret
CABINET
THE SITUATION IN CHINA
Draft Conclusions of a Conference held at 10 Downing Street, on We dnesday, January 19th, 1927, at 5.n.m.
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1. The Conference had been summoned to consider a
Report prepared at the request of the Cabinet by the Chiefs
of Staff Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence,
on the subject of the defence of Shameen (C.I.D. Paper No.762.B).
Two questions of urgency, however, were dealt with before the
above Report.
THE NEGOTIA- TIONS WITH THE CANTONESE
GOVERNMENT.
2.
Referring to Sir Miles Lampson's telegram No.115 of
January 19th, in which our Minister at Peking states
that, pending consideration of his telegram No.113, which had
crossed instructions sent to him on January 17th, he was holding
up T. O'Malley's negotiations with Eugene Chen at Hankow, for
48 hours, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs stated
that he proposed to reply to the effect that it is essential to
our policy that, before Eugene Chen is allowed to break off
negotiations, he should know our policy and what he is refusing.
He also meant to make clear that we regard Hankow only as an
incident in the negotiations, and that if he chooses to continue
then we are prepared to offer generous terms. Both Sir Miles
Lempson and Mr. O'Malley would be told to trent Hankow as on
incident in the larger policy.
THE DEFENCE
OF SHANGHAI
Reinforce- ments.
The Chief of the Imperial General Staff handed
round a note he had received of conversation
with the Japanese Military Attaché, the purport of which was
that the Japanese General Staff's original proposal had been
meant to refer only to reinforcements such as could be
provided by the Navy for maintaining order at Shanghai; that
in their view the British Chiefs of Staff had exagrerated
the