Sir Austen Chamberlain was at his best in the House
of Commons on Monday when he made an important state- ment on China. He explained that when the Identic Notes were sent to Mr. Chen in regard to the Nanking outrages Mr. Chen was Foreign Minister of a Government which appeared to have all China south of the Yangtze firmly in its grasp. Moreover it seemed to be on the point of extending its domination as far north as Peking. But now Mr. Chen and his Government were shadows. It was a salutary fact that the Communists and their Russian inspirers had brought this Nemesis upon themselves by deliberately procuring outrages against foreigners in order to embarrass Chiang Kai-shek. The swift and unexpected result of their terrible cynicism had been to consolidate moderate Chinese influence against the conspirators. * * * *
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