[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government. 7 249
CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[F 5628/10/10]
No. 1.
| December 12, 1926.]
SECTION 1.
THE QUESTION OF THE RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTHERN GOVERNMENT.
I.-General Considerations.
THE extension of the control of the Southern Government over a considerable part of China has brought the question of their recognition to the forefront. The imagined intentions of His Majesty's Government in this respect are causing concern to the Governments of other States parties to the Washington Treaty, more particularly Japan and the United States. Rumours are current that His Majesty's Government are on the point of recognising Canton, and the question has been ventilated both in Parliament and in the press.
2. The attitude of His Majesty's Government to the Southern Government was stated in reply to a question in the House of Commons on the 11th November as follows:
"The Chinese authorities at Canton are recognised and dealt with as a local Administration. Any step beyond this would have to be most carefully considered by His Majesty's Government, having regard to their treaty obligations, the facts of the situation and the wishes of the Chinese people." Their attitude still remains as defined above, and though they have, of course, been seriously examining the question of recognition in all its aspects, they have taken no step which would indicate to the Cantonese Government that they were disposed to modify that attitude.
3. Recognition of a Government by other Governments may be defined as an open and formal acknowledgment that that Government is the only rightful Govern- ment of that territory over which it in fact exercises authority, and possibly also of some or all of that territory over which it claims the right to exercise authority, even though such territory may not in fact be under its effective authority. This definition takes no account of whatever distinction there may be between de facto and de jure recognition. Recognition may be a formal act or it may be implied, but it is irrevocable. The Government which has been recognised may disappear, and recognition may then lapse by very force of circumstances, that which was recognised having ceased to exist. This happened to the Menshevik Government of Georgia, which was recognised by the Powers in 1921, but which lost control of the country almost immediately afterwards, and was driven out by the Bolsheviks and established itself in Paris. But once a Government is recognised, and so long as it continues to exist in control of even a part of the territory over which it was acknowledged as the rightful authority, it must still continue to be regarded as an independent Government possessing all the attributes of sovereignty. Recognition cannot be withdrawn, though if a recognised Government disappears, recognition may be withheld from its successor. The only step open to a recognising Government if it desires to mark its disrespect for a recognised Government, is to curtail or suspend diplomatic relations, the establishment of which, whether they be of a formal or informal character, usually accompanies the act of recognition. It is generally regarded as a condition precedent to recognition that the Government which claims to be recognised shall itself recognise and assume responsibility for the obligations of its predecessor in respect of the territory over which it exercises or claims to exercise authority. That the Soviet Government has failed to do so is one of the reasons why formal diplomatic relations between them and His Majesty's Govern- ment, though established, have always been restricted to the appointment of Chargés d'Affaires. It may be well to examine the question of the recognition of Canton under the three headings suggested by the statement made in the House and in the light of the considerations set forth in the foregoing paragraph :- The Facts of the Situation.
4. At the present moment His Majesty's Government recognise no Government in China as the Government of China. The Government formerly recognised has ceased to exist. They recognise that there is a State called China which has its
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