CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926 — Page 30

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joined in the blockade, and a case could be made out

for stopping Chinese ships also, for, since the present

difficulty is largely due to the fact that the Canton

authorities are taking action in violation of treaties

between China and other countries, and the Central

Government is quite unable to prevent such action, it

would be difficult for the Chinese Goverment to make

an effective protest against the steps taken to bring the

Canton authorities to reason. Where difficulty would arise

would be as regards the ships and trade of States not

participating in the blockade, in particular Russia, but

also probably the United States. The question as to the

right, in the event of a pacific blockade, to interfere with

the ships of third states is one upon which no definite

rules can be said to have been established. It is, however,

safe to say that His Majesty's Goverment could not

maintain that there was an established right to interfere

with the ships of third States, although there are precedents

and arguments which could be invoked in support of such a

claim. A state like Russia, which wanted to make trouble,

would therefore be in a position to maintain, with some

show of reason, that the action of His Majesty's Government

was illegal, and could make it a basis of a claim for

compensation, even if it were not worth her while to go

further and claim that she was entitled to regard it, if

she saw fit to do so, as an act of war. The position would

be the same whichever of the three possible methods of

dealing /

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