224
20.
H.K.'s gates remained largely untapped.
Whatever the
difficulties (and they were obviously considerable) in the
way of arming at least a part of these potential allies
beforehand, that we did not long ago make the attempt forced
many Chinese to the conclusion that they were not trusted. They even began to think that the British preferred to lose H.K.
than to defend it successfully with the help of Chinese arms.
They say now in China that if only we had made up our minds
to trust them sooner, we need never have asked our soldiers
to face the desperate and hopeless odds which confronted them last December. For my own part, I agree with the Chinese.