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thought and sentiment. It is in a corner of the country, remote from its chief commercial interests. It is dangerously near to Russia and Japan. Above all, it is no longer the seat of a central government controlling chinese affairs. The fact must at last be recognized that there is no central government of China and that the country has broken into independent provinces or groups of provinces. Therefore, British interests
in each province or group of provinces must for the present be the care of the Pritish Consular Authorities on the spot, and the british Minister can only be a coordinating authority and can no longer assist the consuls by diplomatic action at
Peking. In these circumstances I venture to think that, as
Shanghai is the main centre of our commercial interests in
China, and as it is also a convenient point from which to reach every part of the country, Shanghai would (as things now
are) be the best place at which to station the British Legation.
It will, moreover, he necessary for the ritish Minister, if he is
to be in effective control of British Consular activities, to
travel much more than has been usual in the past, to get first
hand knowledge of the various regional groups into which thina
is now divided, and to deal direct with the Chinese authorities
controlling these groups. The only practicable alternative I
can see is to leave the various British Consuls General in independent charge of Pritish interests within the limits of their consular jurisdictions: but this would not be convenient unless such limita vere altered to conform with the regional groups into which China is at any time subdivided.
20.
If Great Britain took the lead in action such as this, doubtless the other foreign nations which at present rain- tain diplomatic representatives at Peking would have to follow suit. But it would, of course, be referable to act in agreement with the other Powers, especially Japan, the United States and France. I would have suggested that this was an occasion for "full and frank communication", as contemplated by article VII of the Washington Nine Fower Treaty of 1922, between the
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