3
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to withdraw British protection from an area of which the
population is loyal and well-affected to the British Crown
until there is definite assurance of settled government,
maintenance of law and order and extermination of brigandage
in northern China and especially in Shantung. I conclude therefore that the rendition of Weihaiwei will be impossible
for many years and that this territory will continue to be British. During my visits to Peking and Weihaiwei last month I found that this opinion was shared both by Sir Miles Lampson and by Mr. R.F. Johnston. Accordingly I recommend that one British battalion should be stationed in Weihaiwei,
where good accomodation for it is available, and that it should be inter-changeable with the British battalions at Shanghai for purposes of training and health.
6.
Until civil war ends and settled government is
restored in northern China, the maintenance of a British force at Tientsin seems to me to be essential and I do not believe that for many years to come it will be safe to station less than one British battalion at Tientsin. At present there are two British battalions at Tientsin and I should be reluctant to see one of these battalions removed from China, unless a definite understanding is reached between His Majesty's Government and the Japanese Government that the latter will be responsible for protecting the Peking Legation and Tientsin in the event of their safety being menaced by a sudden
emergency.
7.
I thus reach the conclusion that for many
years to come the irreducible minimum of the British
garrison in China will be seven British battalions, viz.
four at Hong Kong, one at Shanghai, one at Weihaiwei and one
at