Feb. 7.
FurtHER light is thrown of the real purpose of the men who direct Mr. Eugene Chen's notes lby his reply to the aide mémoire from Mr. O'Malley accompanying! the British memorandum.
Saturday's issue we pointed out that the people who would reject! that offer, would reject anything] land that if the British Government were weak enough to stop ithe troops now on their way to Shanghai in deference to the Hankow Reds' objection, some other pretext would be found on the morrow for wrecking any] agreement with Britain, In the laid mémoire we have it. We are told thit the "Nationalist" Government could only consent to accept the "fragmentary and inadequate" offers of Great} Britain as a basis of discus-ion, on condition that ther were no simultaneous discus sions "with local or other \Chinese authorities, who cannot represent or bind the Nationalist] party." The allusion to Reking is too plain to be missed. The enormous impertinence of the Hankow party in claiming to be regarded as the Government of] fall China may merely be noted in passing. The important point that the masters of Mr. Eugene [Chen must know—at any rate he knows very well, they are demanding the impossible, is to say that they have no i tention of negotiating with sinjcerity and they are clumsily endeavouring to put thon Great Britain the responsibility for their rejection of what they are perfectly aware is the most generous and liberal-minded offer jover made to China.
One other point in Mr. Chen's communication to Mr. O'Malley may be noted. He said, in the missive printed by us on Saturiday:—"It is not and never has been within the contemplation of ithe Nationalist Government to occupy" Shanghai. Now if we loan assume that this assertion is true, a very large assumption by the way, what does it mean? [Simply that the Southern Reds late not anxious to embroil ther selves with all the Powers, at larly rate not just yet. If by some cruel stroke of fate the future should see them masters of all IChina, the other Powers would encounter exactly the same treat ment a3 Britain. But for the moment policy enjoins that all their venom should be directed against her. Fortunately we may believe that these things begin to be understood in Eng-and ct Inst. Great relief will Ibe felt at Reuter's semi-official
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.