CRISIS IN CHINA

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 58, 2 December 1926, Page 11

CRISIS IN CHINA

IF BRITAIN YIELDS HANKOW SHANGHAI AND TIENTSIN MUST FOLLOW BOLSHEVIK MENACE VERY REAL A high authority in China says that if Great Britain yields Hankow she must yield Shanghai and Tientsin also. By telegraph.—press association. Copyright. London, November 30. The "Daily News” says that, besides the China Squadron, there are numerous international warships off Hankow. The fact remains that Hankow is 600 miles from the coast, and that the level of the water in the Yangtse River will fall in the next three months. The 700 foreigners at Hankow are a mere handful among a population of a million. A high authority in China says that mere rescue measures will be insufficient. If Great Britain yields Hankow she must yield Shanghai and Tientsin, which would lead to disaster. Mr. Gull, secretary of the British Chambers of Commerce, who has arrived in London, says that a member of the Cantonese Cabinet recently informed him that the Cantonese were aiming at control of the whole of China, and were determined to _ deprive foreigners of the Treaty rights obtained in 1842. They are antiBritish, because they believe that the British are the chief obstacle to their ambition, but they would not abandon their Bolshevik connection until other foreigners were ousted. The Bolshevik menace in China was very real at present, and was greatly underrated. "The present trouble at Hankow was foretold to me by a Cabinet Minister,” he said. "The Cantonese believe that a complete paralvsis of trade and industry at Hankow, and later at Shanghai, will be their most effective weapons. Britain should continue to be ready to negotiate, but ought simultaneously to make it plain that she is determined to defend her subjects’ rights.—Sydney “Sun” Cable. MOST SERIOUS NEWS SITUATION CONSIDERED BY BRITISH CABINET (Rec. December 1, 7.55 p.m.) London, December 1. The news from China is regarded as most serious. Cabinet last night considered the situation. It is understood that Sir Austen Chamberlain will make a full statement in the House of Commons to-day. AMERICAN DESTROYERS FOR HANKOW TO PROTECT FOREIGN LIVES (Rec. December 1, 7.55 p.m.) New Y’ork, November 30. Two American destroyers, the Pope and Truxton, have been ordered to Hankow to protect foreign lives. In the present crisis the American naval force will co-operate with the British, French, and other vessels to protect threatened nationals.