We have now received the text of the letters exchanged
on August 9th between H.M. Consul-General at Shanghai on behalf of the Minister at Peking and Dr. Wang on behalf of the Chinese Nationalist Government. The gist of them is that the Chinese Government admits responsi- bility for the outrages of March, 1927, although they were "entirely instigated by Communists prior to the estab- lishment of the Nationalist Government in Nanking " ; and a joint committee shall assess the compensation to be paid. Nanking demanded an expression of regret for the firing by British men-of-war, but the British answer does not go far in the game of saving face, for though it deplores the cause, it states that "the measures taken by H.M.S. ' Emerald ' were absolutely necessary." We did not hope to get better terms than did the United States when they slipped in and accepted a settlement a year after the event, but at least we have a public admission of guilt. Another letter signed by Sir Sidney Barton meets the Chinaman's eternal •desire to save his face. In this we agree to what our Government have declared ad nauseant to be their wish, namely to come to terms with a Chinese Government on the revision of the so-called " unequal " treaties. The value of these documents will not be intrinsically great, but they may lead to better things, because we have rightly stuck to our pronounce- ment that the first step towards improved relations must be a settlement over those outrages.
* *
Previous page
