[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government, and should be returned to the Foreign Offlon if not required for official use.]
CHINA.
(F. 5270/10/10)
Cypher telegram to Mr. Goffe (Hankow)
Foreign Office, 8th December 1926, 7.00 p.m.
No. 9.
MPORTANT.
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Following for Mr. Lampson.
Shanghai telegram No. 39 (of December 5th: interpretation of Washington Treaty).
Article I (1) of Washington Treaty is in nature of self-denying ordinance, its object being to exclude operations like the Japanese occupation of Shantung. If Canton succeeds in establishing itself as an independent state in circumstances which, apart from the treaty, would entitle it to recognition by other states, nothing in the article would prevent the signatories from recognising the new state. the other hand, the article does debar the signatories from encouraging separatist movements in Chinese provinces or from anything in the nature of premature recognition of a rebellious government as an inde- pendent state.
On
Article only obliges signatories to respect the sovereignty etc. of China, If these things do not exist it is not possible to respect them; therefore if China broke up into mutually independent fragments, the signatories could not be precluded from recognising the situation thus created. (See China print January 30th, section 1).
We/
72
PO
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