London, June 12.
The possibility of retaliatory action against Japanese anti-British' acts in China was the subject of questions in the House of Commons today during a discussion of the events which led to the death of Mr, R. M. Tinkler in Shanghai recently.
Lieut.-Commander R-T.H. Fletcher, Labour member for the Nuneaton division of Warwickshire, whether the Government how perturbed public apii becoming by such anti-British actions of the Japanese as the interception of British ships and trespass on British property.
Was any action possible, he asked, except protests?
Colonel John Sandeman Allen, Conservative member for West Birkenhead, asked whether anything was being done to get the true facts of the Tinkler case.
Mr. R, A, Butler, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, replied in the affirmative.
That was the reason, he added, why, the information in the possession the British authorities had been given to British and international news agencies. orities.
"The Japanese seem to think," Lord Elibank continued, "that the best way of coping with the so-called anti-Japanese campaign in China is to take possession of Chinese who are protected by foreign flags, like in Tientsin and Amoy and now apparently contemplated in Shanghai."
If that occurred, trade in Shanghai would decrease to practically nil, because all Chinese would, as soon as possible, leave the Settlement and repair to the interior.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.