CO129-502-7 China- general situation 4-3-1927 - 26-4-1927 — Page 167

#Action

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

4

SECRET.

782-B

Printed for the Committee of Imperial Defence, March, 1927.

COPY NO.

COMMITTEE OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

SOVIET ACTIVITIES IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN ASIA.

(Previous C.I.D. Papers Nos. 655–B, 671-B and 675–B.)

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MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR.

I circulate for the information of the Committee of Imperial Defence a memorandum by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff on Soviet Activities in Central and Eastern Asia.

0149

505

THE WAR OFFICE,

15th March, 1927.

L. W.-E.

1. The activities of the U.S.S.R. in Central Asia and the Far East during the past few

years

have recently been brought into prominence by the open support which the Russians are according to the government and military forces of Canton in their acknowledged campaign against foreign, and especially British, mercantile and other interests in China. His Majesty's Government are fully aware of the strong anti-British feelings which permeate the minds of the present-day rulers of Russia, as is shown by the text of the British Note of 23rd February, 1927, to the Soviet Chargé d'Affaires in London. I therefore consider that it is opportune for me to submit my views on military aspects of their anti-British activities in the Middle and Far East. There may not, at first sight, be much connection between the encouragement of a Nationalist spirit in China and the extension of Russian control in Afghanistan: but it must be remembered that the acknowledged aim of the Soviet is the achievement of world revolution, and that they regard the British Empire as the most formidable obstacle to be overcome in the attain- ment of their objective. I am not immediately concerned with Russian activities in this country, but the object of this paper is to show that, though their efforts are at present widely dispersed in the East, they will ultimately converge on the supreme objective of the overthrow of British supremacy in India. Lenin himself coined the phrase that the road to London lies through Delhi, and our available evidence goes to show that his successors are not wavering in their adherence to his doctrines. I am convinced, there- fore, that we must continue to regard India as the eventual goal of Bolshevik activities in the East.

CHINA.

2. China now offers us the first concrete example of successful Red intervention in a foreign country, and it is possible that an analysis of the methods employed by the Soviets in that area may assist us to throw further light on their general strategic policy in the East which has, in the past, defied accurate definition. It is proposed, therefore, first to summarise the course of events in China, and to compare the policy thus disclosed with the available evidence in regard to Soviet activities in Central Asia, aimed as I believe, at India.

(B27/18) 100 3/27 W.O.P. 3053