The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1927. THE CHINESE TREATIES PROBLEM.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10314, 25 January 1927, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1927. THE CHINESE TREATIES PROBLEM.

The attitude of the New Zealand Labor Party towards the situation in China will meet with the hearty approval of the Cantonese Nationalists who have, as is well-known, set up a “government” in opposition to the official government at- Pekin. In short, it is expressed in the cal Je sent to the British Labor Party wherein it Was stated that Labor in this Dominion would aid Home Labor in any action taken to prevent armed intervention, by the British Government in China. As far as is known, however, no “5.0.5.” was sent to the New Zealand Labor Party by Mr. Ramsay MacDonald for its moral support in respect of any line < policy. In strict fact, Mr. MacDonald, as well as Mr. Lloyd George, is in accord with the ' Home Government’s policy with reference to t Chinese situation so far as it has •been formulated and carried into effect. It cannot, of course be denied ! that the extremists amongst British Labor have, for some time, been praising the efforts of the Chinese agitators to rid their country of what they describe as “the foreign devils.” The Chinese trouble naurally affords them a further opportunity to preach the “Red” gospel of “War on Capitalism.” Maybe, in the past, the British Government and other governments made what to-day appear to be harsh tar gains with the Chinese in respect of compensation for atrocities and that other concessions have been obtained which, in the light of the changed conditions, really ought to l>e reviewed. But, for all that, Mr. Baldwin and his colleagues have taken up a most reasonable attitude in suggesting to the other (Powers that, as soon as possible, a revision of all treaties with China should he entered upon. An obstacle at the moment is. of course, the fact that, to-day. neither of the rival governments in China can claim to speak on behalf of the whole of tho people of that land. Such being the case both Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Lloyd George have no option hut to stand behind the British Government in its efforts to maintain peace in China. If the Chinese Nationalists refuse to- take heed of the warning issued by the Home Government and persist in* their campaign to eject the British at any rate from Shanghai and Hankow, thus over-riding the existing treaties, it is difficult to see how the British Labor Party can. or will, object to armed intervention. Whether China is or is not impressed by the sad lesson which required to he imposed upon Germany for her grave crime of treaty-breaking remains to be seen. No sane Laborite in any country will stand for treaties being regarded as mere “scraps of paper.” In the circumstances, the New Zealand Labor Party has' made itself look rather foolish in suggesting that Britain on no account should use armed force to maintain her honor and prestige in the East should the necessity for such a step arise.