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PUBLIC

T :། ། །

RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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be a Press warfare or could be carried on by post, and there Mr. Ch'ên must be no necessity for the delegations to meet, answered that he had a public to consider. It was not only the delegates who were interested. The Consul-General replied that the Chinese delegation had been delegated to settle this matter and, returning to the point of publication, suggested that publica- Mr. Ch'en tion after settlement would be the proper course. asked what should be done in the event of negotiations failing? He said that the Conference had not come to grips so far. The Conference had not got beyond irresponsible statements (pre- sumably not referring to the two written statements made at the Conference). He emphasised the fact that the Conference was not sitting in a sense of conflict. Its duty was to diagnose the existing malady and to find a cure for it. Publication in the Press was not a matter of conflict, but was only enlightenment to an interested public, which he had to consider. The Consul- General answered that in any event premature publicity would be of no assistance, and asked the Chinese delegation to express their case. The Consul-General also asked if the Chinese dele- gation proposed to publish suggested terms before they were agreed upon, because that would create an impossible position. Mr. Ch'ên did not reply directly to the Consul-General.

Mr. Ch'ên indicated that the Chinese delegation desired an ad- journment until 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday (21st July), when a reply would be made, including suggested terms of settlement and everything.

The Consul-General, at Mr. Ch'ên's invitation, left the room and returned in about an hour. On their return the arrangement for the next sitting to be on Wednesday was confirmed, and Mr. Ch'ên repeated that his statement on Wednesday would contain the terms and everything.

Statement by the British Delegation.

The Chinese delegation, in putting forward their statement on the origin of the anti-British boycott in the Liang-kuang, have asked for our views on their presentation of this issue before pro ceeding further with the business of the Conference.

We should have preferred to have heard the Chinese delega tion's whole case, including their proposals for a settlement. before being called on for a reply, for we feel that the sentiments they have now expressed and the answer which must inevitably be evoked from our side have already been set out in despatches exchanged between British and Chinese officials, and have been fully discussed in the Press of both nations, and that to continue the discussion in this manner by the exchange of statements in- tended for publication will only exacerbate public opinion and render difficult the amicable adjustment of points of difference. which it is the object of these negotiations to achieve.

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If, however, the Chinese delegation feel strongly that the document read to us at the last sitting, full as it is of contro- versial points, should be published, an answer can and must be made.

The Chinese statement takes the causes of the boycott back to the incident of the 30th May in Shanghai. It is not within the province of this delegation to deal with affairs which have occurred in central China, nor is it possible to do so adequately within the scope of a short statement, but the following are some material facts which have been omitted from the dogment to which this is a reply.

The Shanghai trouble arose out of labour disputes in Japanese cotton-mills, with which the British were not concerned. A demonstration was held by Chinese students in the busiest streets of the International Settlement in defiance of by-laws designed to secure the preservation of order and the free circulation of traffic for residents of all nationalities. The Settlement Police, who are employees of the International Council, endeavoured to do their duty and maintain respect for the law by arresting the ring- leaders. This, in turn, led to an attack on a police station by a mob of between two and three thousand people, of whom a few of the leaders were students, but many were loafers and bad characters from the less reputable quarters of Shanghai. The handful of police on duty tried for some time to disperse the crowd by persuasion and then by batou charges, but they were driven back by increasing numbers, and finally when the inflamed mob was within six feet of the station gates, and Inspector Ever- son, the officer in charge, feared that his men would be over- whelmed, and the station and its armoury captured, as had occurred once before, he ordered a volley to be fired.

The resulting casualties must be deplored by all, but unless Inspector Everson was to abdicate his functions as a police officer and make a criminal surrender to the mob of the interests in his charge, which, be it remembered were mainly Chinese, it is difficult to see what else he could have done in the circumstances, and his personal conduct in the matter was vindicated in the fullest manner by all three judges in the international judicial enquiry which was held subsequently. It merely clouds the issue to compare this affair with what occurred on its anniversary in 1926, when distur- bances were definitely expected, and a large show of force was prepared as a result of previous experience, to deal with any trouble which might arise.

This then is the incident, which, distorted out of all semblance to the truth, was used to arouse anti-British feeling in all parts of China. Outbreaks against small and defenceless communities occurred in Chinkiang, Kiukiang, Chungking and a number of other places, where mobs, unrestrained by the local authorities, destroyed the property and menaced the lives of British subjects.

At Hankow a crowd of roughs, who had been worked up to a pitch of frenzy by student agitators, made a determined attack on

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