"A number of proposals are now under consideration for assisting China in connection with export credits, and the British Government will sympathetically examine this and similar requests by the Chinese Government.
"Unless there is some guarantee that action such as that suggested by Lord Elibank would be likely to be efficacious, it would do more harm than good.
"The British Government will con. tinue to treat the protection of British interests as one of the cardinal points of her policy in the Far East.
"They consider that this end can best be achieved by an early and equitable settlement of the Sino-Japanese conflict, just to both, and taking account of the interests of Third Parties.
"The British Government has indicated both to China and to Japan that they are ready to use their good offices, and they will not hesitate to take all the necessary steps as soon as the moment appears appropriate.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.