[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
Printed for the Committee of Imperial Defence. April 1927.
SECRET.
796-B.
COMMITTEE OF IMPERIAL DEfence.
Copy No. 40
SITUATION IN CHINA, MARCH 29, 1927-MAY 2, 1927.
(Previous C.I.D. Papers Nos. 617-B, 677-B, 681-B, 722-B, 727-B, 750–B, 756–B, 759-B, 761-B, 762-B, 764-B, 769-B, 771-B, 784-B, 785-B, 786-B, 787-B, 788-B, 789-B, 790-B, 791-B, 792-B, 793-B, 794-B and 795-B.)
NOTE BY THE SECRETARY.
1. IN view of the rapid development of events in China, the Chiefs of Staff, by the instructions of the Prime Minister, held a number of meetings to review the situation in the light of the most recent information and to report.
2. Owing to the urgency of the issues involved and the impossibility of convening meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence, these reports were submitted direct to the Cabinet on the instructions of the Prime Minister, who desires that the Committee of Imperial Defence should take formal note of them and the Cabinet Conclusions thereon.
3. The recommendations contained in these Reports and the Cabinet Conclusions are summarised below.
4. A meeting of the Chiefs of Staff was held on the 29th March, 1927, when a Report was submitted to the Cabinet (C.I.D. Paper No. 784-B), the Conclusions and recommendations of which were as follows:-
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(1.) Amid many uncertainties and disquieting events, the situation has developed to our advantage, from a military point of view, in so much as south of the Yangtse we have to deal only with the Cantonese, and any pressure we put on them will no longer operate equally on the Northern Chinese, who have not treated us with the same vindictive spirit as have the Southerners.
(2.) Before any steps are taken to put military pressure on the Cantonese, arrangements must be made to complete the withdrawal of British nationals from the Yangtse above Hankow. We recommend that the withdrawal should take place at once in an orderly manner, beginning at the highest point on the river.
(3.) Subject to the views of the Naval Commander-in-Chief, we recommend that at the same time the British gunboats should be withdrawn from the river above Hankow and concentrated at that port. The Naval Commander- in-Chief must make the best arrangement he can in regard to H.M.S.' Mantis,' which probably draws too much water to pass down the gorges in the present condition of the river.
(4.) We recommend that, before the gunboats are withdrawn, the French, American and Japanese Governments, who also have gunboats above Hankow, should be informed of our intentions.
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