As Sir Austen Chamberlain said, the Government who have done
nothing but seek and ensue peace have been balked by the absence of unity among the Powers and by the chaos within China itself. The Government's desire to meet Chinese wishes dated a long way back, but it was not till the Tariff Conference at Peking had broken down that the Government felt justified in taking an independent line and issuing the Christmas Manifesto. Then Sir Austen Chamberlain came to his " assurances.' As regards the troops sent to Shanghai, the Government had instructed Mr. O'Malley to inform Mr. ('hen that there was no motive whatever for dispatching the troops except responsibility for British lives, but that if Mr. Chen would sign the agreement the British Government would undertake in return to keep all troops within the Shanghai concession, to land at Shanghai only the troops from India (unless those stopped at Hong Kong were required by some " new danger ") and to observe strict neutrality in the Chinese Civil War.
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