News of the Week
AGRAVE situation was undoubtedly created by the withdrawal of the British naval force from the Concession at Hankow, but in our judgment the British Government hiiVe followed the only course which promises a solution of all the difficulties of our present relations with China. It is very easy to talk, as many people are now talk mg, about a slap in the face for Great Britain, a meek acceptance of humiliation, the loss of prestigeor '6 face," as it must be called in the Chinese context-4ind so on. The truth is, however, that the Yangtze is too low in the winter for shipS of any size to go as far 1113 the river asHankow, _ and even if that were not so, no sensible person would regard going to war with China as a practical policy. It is admitted by most cool observers that Chinese Nationalism is a reality and that its progress is inevitable. In these circumstances obviously the right policy is to encourage what is good in that Nationalism and to try to detach from it the infamous directing power of the Soviet. *. *
