CO129-502-8 China- general situation 27-4-1927 - 15-9-1927 — Page 72

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consideration in the mind of His Majesty's Govern-

ment.

China is in a state of anarchy produced by

revolution and civil wars. Such periods of anarchy have been a recurrent feature of Chinese nistory and they last long. If, therefore, force be used, it is difficult to set any limit to its employment either in time or space; and even if momentarily successful, it may amongst a people with so long a manory leave behind it a resentment which makes future friendly relations still more difficult. His Majesty's Government do not

absolutely exclude from consideration the use of force

for other purposes, but they hold that such use of force and therefore any threat of its use can be justi-

fied only by the most urgent necessity or the most con-

clusive advantages. They sympathise with your conten-

tion that in China the only practicable policy is one

of firmness and justice. Such a policy implies, however,

that where force is threatened it must be more than a

mere threat and must proceed from a settled resolve to

take active measures of coercion if the threat of them

is not sufficient.

His Majesty's Government could only contemplate

the use of coercive measures if the following essential

conditions were fulfilled.

1. The end in view must be indisputably attain-

able by the measures proposed, and the execution of

these measures must lie within the military means

available