Peking, Jan, 19.
It is stated on fairly good authority that the British Legation is preparing to enter a protest against the preliminary agreement which the Ministry of Communcations has made with the Federal Wireless Company for the erection of high power stations at Shanghai, Canton, Peking and Harbin. It is generally assumed that the protest will be based upon the terms of the Marconi contract, and that the Consortium agreement will also be quoted as opposing the terms of the wireless deal.
Tue Paxine Synpicats's Contract.
At the same time the British Legation is consistently opposing the bargain made between the Peking Syndicate and the Ministry of the Navy for the sale of more than 100 planes at a cost of £897,- 200, which bargain is said to have been made tempting by the promise of a loan of £400,000. It is said that several considerations prompted the British Foreign Office to veto this deal when it was submitted from Peking. In the first place the alleged Joan. which is most attractive to the Chinese, was a manifest violation of the Consortium agreement. In the second place the British Legation has found it quite impossible to prevent the use of aeroplanes already sold for military purposes and is therefore put in the invidious position of having sanctioned a violation of the arms embargo agreement of March, 1919. Chang Tso-lin recently announced, with his usual candour, that he did not propose to return any more of the aeroplanes which he had taken from Nanyuan and that "if the British Consul in Mukden made any further inquiries about the matter. he would' make the same unequivocal statement to him. In view of this situation it would hardly be good form to permit any more of such expensive toys to be imported as Tuchuns' playthings. If the planes now in China were being used successfully as commercial carriers and if the number were inadequate, there might be some apology for importing more, but since the machines which are in Peking have never served any purpose but that of giving the Chinese and foreign aristocracy numerous joy-rides over the metropolis and that of damaging British prestige during the Anfu skirmish last summer, there seems little excuse for adding to their number—not at least until the Chinese Government has demonstrated that the machines already delivered can be used economically as mail or passenger carriers.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.