[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[F 923/110/10]
No. 1.
[May 16.]
SECTION 4.
227
(No. 380.) Sir.
The Marquess Curzon of Kedleston to Sir B. Alston (Peking).
Foreign Office. May 16, 1922. WITH reference to my telegram No. 57 of the 23rd February and your telegram
No. 74 of the 2nd instant, I transmit a copy of Earl Balfour's despatch (No, 21) 11737/
to the Prime Minister of the 2nd February, from which you will see that the British Empire Delegation at Washington made a determined effort to improve the present unsatisfactory situation in regard to the China arms embargo by obtaining a reaffirmation of the 1919 embargo by the Powers represented at the Conference on Pacific and Far Eastern Affairs. You will have learnt, however. from Earl Balfour's telegram No. 325 of the 2nd February, which was repeated to you, that his efforts failed to achieve the desired result owing to the obstructive attitude of the Italian Government, who qualified their acceptance of the proposed resolution by a reservation similar to that which they made in Peking in 1919 respecting outstanding contracts.
The best course now appears to be for you to discuss the question with your colleagues with a view to framing a recommendation, which should, if possible, be unanimous, as to the steps to be taken to place the embargo on a satisfactory footing. and I transmit herewith copy of a memorandum (B.E.D.-178) prepared by the Foreign Office Section of the British Empire Delegation at Washington, which forms a comprehensive survey of all the circumstances connected with the arms embargo up to date, with the following three exceptions:-
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(1) A contract by a Danish firm, Nielsen and Winter, for the supply of machinery to the Mukden arsenal has been reported to His Majesty's Legation at Copenhagen, and Mr. Parr was instructed on the 3rd January (see my despatch No. 18 of the 5th January) to co-operate with his American and Japanese colleagues in protesting to the Danish Government against the execution of this contract. The result of these representations has not yet been reported.
(2.) The representations made by Sir R. Graham at Rome, in concert with his French, Japanese and United States colleagues, respecting the supply of Italian arms to China at first only produced an evasive and inadequate reply, and Sir R. Graham's recent reports No. 1042 of the 28th December and No. 65 of the 20th January on this subject are enclosed for your information. You will have learnt, however, from Sir R. Graham's telegram No. 169 of the 12th April, which was repeated to you, that a more satisfactory reply has now been received from the Italian Govern- ment, and I transmit herewith copy of Sir R. Graham's despatch No. 339 of the 12th instant giving details of their undertaking now given that no further sales of Italian arms and ammunition in China will be made to the Chinese directly or indirectly.†
(3.) The engagement of a German engineer for the Chengtu arsenal. reported in your despatch No. 684 of the 22nd November, was not known to the Foreign Office Section at the time when their memorandum was prepared.
"
The amended draft resolution introduced by Earl Balfour before the Committee for Pacific and Far Eastern Affairs on the 31st January proposes to prohibit the export to China of arms or munitions of war, whether complete or in parts, but it is evident, that in various instances recently some of the Powers have not been acting in accordance with the spirit of the embargo policy, and yet In might claim to have been acting within the letter of the embargo resolution. the light of our experience it is therefore desirable that the scope of the embargo should be more precisely defined and widened so as to include materials and tools
February 16, Section 1.
† April 18, Section 1.
[5 q-4]
B
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