The Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which began in 1931, was a flagrant breach of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The World Disarmament Conference began in February 1932, and disarmament meant that Britain was powerless to stop Japanese aggression. Baldwin told Thomas Jones on 27 February, "The very people like Bob Cecil who have made us disarm, and quite right too, are now urging us forward to take action. But where will action take us?... If you enforce an economic boycott you will have war declared by Japan and she will seize Singapore and Hong Kong and we cannot, as we are placed, stop her".