CO129-497 - Public Offices - 1926 — Page 429

This document is the property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.

Printed for the Committee of Imperial Defence, October, 1926.

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SECRET.

C.I.D.-722 B.

COMMITTEE OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

421

Copy No.

18

THE MILITARY IMPLICATIONS OF A BLOCKADE OF CANTON.

(Previous C.I.D. Paper-681--B.)

MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR.

I circulate, for the information of the Committee of Imperial Defence, a memorandum by the General Staff on the military implications of a Blockade of Canton.

083 5521

L.W.-E.

THE WAR OFFICE,

8th October, 1926.

1. In considering the effects of a blockade of Canton, the repercussion on the Foreign Concession at Shameen is one of the first factors to weigh, and, in this connection, it is necessary to remember that this concession is shared by French and British in the proportion of about 1 to 4. Any action taken by the representatives of one nation will intimately affect the interests of the other, and an agreement between the two nations as to the policy to be adopted is therefore an essential preliminary. It is certain that one of the effects of the blockade would be to turn the unfriendly attention of the Cantonese towards this Foreign Concession. If all Europeans were withdrawn from Shameen as a preliminary to the institution of a blockade, there seems to be little doubt that foreign as well as Chinese property in Shameen would be destroyed, or would at any rate be looted, while the chances of subsequently extracting adequate compensation for this loss and damage from the Cantonese would be extremely small. Moreover, it would hardly be feasible to withdraw the British inhabitants alone and to leave the French; evacuation, if carried out at all, would have to include all foreigners.

2. If the Europeans in Shameen were left there during a blockade, they would undoubtedly demand some measure of military protection, since they could not very well be expected to ensure their own safety unaided. It is true that there is a locally-raised volunteer organization, consisting of some 50 British subjects, besides a force of 50 Sikh police; it is also understood that there is a French force of 100 men, though its composition and efficiency are not known. These, however, would be quite inadequate to ensure the security of the Concession in view of the weight of attack to which it might be subjected. A military force stationed at Shameen for this purpose would have to be strong enough to ensure its own safety as well as that of the Concession it was The Genera! protecting. Estimates as to the numbers required for this purpose vary. Officer Commanding, Hong Kong, suggests that two platoons of an Indian battalion, supported by the local forces mentioned above, would be sufficient; but this estimate is evidently based on the experience of previous incidents, before foreign prestige had been

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