155
6.
In
Chinese Government will seize upon this as an excuse to go back upon the tentative assent of their Foreign Minister, without however granting the United States demand for the indefinite exclusion of Shanghai.
each case the Chinese will only yield the minimum demanded by each Government and both Governments will
thus be worse off. The Foreign Office would seize any opportunity that might occur, consistently with their
existing commitments to the Chinese Minister for
Foreign Affairs, to support the State Department's proposals for the indefinite exclusion of Shanghai. believe, however, for the reasons stated above, that there is little chance of the Chinese Government
granting this demand, and they suggest for the con- sideration of the State Department that it would be better not to make a certain sacrifice of so important an interest as Tientsin for the very uncertain prospect of improving the position at Shanghai.
The y