SECRET
(CABINET 45 (27)
34
Extract from Conclusions of a Meeting held on Thursday 28th July 1927
98
CHINA
(Previous
ReferenceL Cabinet 39 (27) Con- clusion 2)
4. The Cabinet had before them a Memorandum
by the Secretary of State for War (Paper C.P.216
(27)) covering a Note by the Chief of the Imperial
General Staff in which the reduction of the force in
China by 5 Infantry Battalions, one Field Brigade
Royal Artillery and some ancillary units vas
recommended.
An extract from the Minutes of the 229th
Meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence, held on
July 18, 1927, was handed round for consideration in
connection with this question, and attention was drawn
to the following recommendation of the Committee,
which had been based on a statement by the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs :-
"CHINA. The situation in China is so uncertain
that no reliable forecast can be made as to how
long it may be necessary to retain the Shanghai
Defence Force in China...........
The Secretary of State for War asked the Cabinet,
if they could not sanction his full proposals, to
allow him to with draw one Battalion, as the War
office would like to send the Guards Battalion home
through