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narrow waterways, where channels may be purposely blocked, pirate launches may stage the preliminaries of a collision, or wires may be made to foul propellers. Attack can then be delivered when the vessel is stopped, or preferably if she has run aground. External attack is, however, chiefly used against river tows.* These, since they are slow moving and often of unhandy length, form an easy prey in the narrow waters of the Canton or West River delta, unless they are adequately protected by a guard on board or escorted by an armed launch or gunboat. Definite protection can be afforded by the navy in these cases, either by patrol of the delta with river gunboats or by co-operation with Chinese Military forces in attack on the strongholds from which the pirates usually operate.
For the above reasons it will be convenient to deal separately with ocean" and river piracies, but before doing so it is necessary to refer to a few points which apply in some degree to both these types of piracy.
1.
POLITICAL ASPECTS.
From the political point of view there is no marked distinction between the ocean and river piracy of British ships. The sovereignty of a nation imposes upon it the duty of preventing outrages upon foreigners by persons operating in or from its territory. If the Government in Peking was unable to deal with the situation in South China, the duty fell upon the de facto Government in Canton.† The question, therefore, arose as to the degree to which pressure could be brought to bear on Canton to take action against the pirate bases, to what extent co-operation should be given, and whether in the event of the Chinese failing to act, independent measures should be taken by us. In actual fact, with one exception, independent action was only taken in connection with ocean piracies, but this was due to military rather than political reasons. While the account of ocean piracies shows that our policy in regard to direct action against pirate bases often varied, it must not be assumed that there was a conflict of opinion as to our rights in the matter. The political situation in South China throughout the period under review was of such complexity, the changes in government so kaleidoscopic, that any continuity of policy in this regard was virtually impossible.
* Tows usually belong to one of three classes :—
"
(a) Fast Passenger Services.-Launch towing one large passenger junk
with a guard junk.
(b) Main Route Cargo Services.-Launch towing a few large cargo
junks.
(c) Subsidiary Cargo Services.-Launch towing several small junks in the minor routes or picking up any junks or large sampans wanting a tow.
There are also special provisions regarding piracy in the Treaty of Tientsin.
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