In these circumstances Great Britain and the other Powers had
decided that it was useless to follow up the controversy with Mr. Chen. It was quite true that Mr. Chen had written a provocative and irrelevant reply to the Notes. But why try to obtain amends from a nonentity who was not in a position to carry them out ? The fact was that foreign lives and what remained of foreign property on the Yangtze might now be regarded as safe, thanks to the presence of the Shanghai Defence Force. Clearly the wisest policy in this transformed situation was to wait for some stable Government or Governments to emerge. Such a Government, based as it would be upon the renunciation of anti-foreign agitation, would in the nature of the case be willing to co-operate with the Powers in building up a better future for China. Further, that Government might be expected to shoulder the national responsibilities of China and compensate foreigners.
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