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Shanghai and therefore the agreement of the British Concession in Hankow could not be signed, and thus the negotiations were
broken off. If England will stop sending troops to China, the Nationalist Government and the military authorities will know for certain that they have only one enemy, Sun Chuan Fang, in Shanghai and that there will be no danger of any conflict with British troops. Then the negotiations can be resumed.
Minister Chen also strongly denied the validity of the reasons given by England for the landing of her troops in Shanghai. If England sends out her troops under such a pretext she must instance some facts to support it such as attempts by the Nationalist Government to seize Shanghai by trained troops. But no such attempts have ever been made. Furthermore repeated assurances have been given by the Government and the Foreign Ministry that such measures will not be resorted to in order to resume Shanghai and the concessions in other places. As for taking precautionary measures, the troops now in Shanghai have shown themselves sufficient for that by what they have already done in preventing disturbance and disorder. They are sufficient and even more than sufficient to protect the con- cession in Shanghai. Therefore the concentration of troops
in Shanghai is unnecessary.
On the morning of the 8th the British representative suggested to Eugene Chen, the Foreign Minister, that if the Hankow agreement was signed, he might take the responsibility for having all the troops removed to other places by the British Government. The Foreign Minister immediately replied that such a suggestion could never be regarded as feasible. Discussion then arose as to what official arrangements could be made to transfer the troops elsewhere, and at the same time assure the safety of the lives and property of the British in
Shanghai.
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