New-York tribune., 1921-11-18
British Offer
Sacrifices to
Assist China
Will Give Up Wcihaiwei,
if Need BE, to Preserve
Her Policy of Open Door
for All in the Far East
Asks International Rule
Ready to Accept Any Settle
ment That Is Agreeable
to America and Japan
By p. W. Wilson

For years American correspondent Of
The London Daily Nefcs," and former
Member of Parliament.
Copyright, 1921. New York Tribune snc.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17.-The at
tltude of Great Britain toward China
and the Far East in general may now
be clearly stated. China is for US. as
for other nations, an important mar
ket, where we wish to continue for
eign trade. We thus regard China ex-
actly as we regard Brazil or the Agen-
tine-as an arena for peaceful COM
mercial rivalry with other nations also
trading there. We understand that
the policy of the open door advanced
by the United States means equal op-
portunities for all nations to trade
with China. We therefore support the
open door. which is the policy every-
where applied throughout the British
Empire.
In Hongkong, in the British reserva-
tson in Shanghai and in the Yanetse
Valley, where the British have a some
what nebulous sphere Of influence. she
SUBMITS that the open door to ali ma
tions has been voluntarily conceded
ana that her main object in obtaining
poAtacal rights in those regions was
TO prevent some other nation stenn;no
in and closing the door to her and
everybody else except itself. This. at
any rate, has always been the British
contention. ''''i
Hence she supports Mr.. Hughes and
mas no reason for doing otherwise. If
sne is asked to give up Weihaiwei
aS part of general settlement in
China of which she approves it is
hardly conceivable that she should
raise an objection. In the first in
stance, she went to Weihaiwei only
because Russia went to Port Arthur
and Germany to Kiaochau. And most
people in England regard Weihaiwei
as joke.
Hongkong Different Case
In the case of Hongkong more
serious ease has to be met. It is not
suggested that the occupation of Hong
Kong has been other than an adyan-
tage to all nations trading in the Far
East 1t is the focus of vast com
merce which is only in part British.
70 throw this city into the chaos of
chinese reconstruction is after all a
proposition to be considered not ac-
coroing 70 theories and hopes, but ac-
cording to facts.
is grievance to nobody. Peking is
bankrupt. Hongkong is solvent and
prosperous. And there may be some
thing to be said for reconstructing
Peklng before we reconstruct Hong
Kong. II, however, there is a definite
proposal in regard to Hongkong or
any other British political or com
mercial interest in the Far East, our
delegates will,I am certain, approach
the matter with an open mind and
will consider the general desire for a
The municipal ruin of Hongkong
would be, however. q heavy price to
pay for the technical integrity of that
part Of China, nor is it by Britain that
the United States will be invited to
withdraw from the Philippines.
While China is an important market
for US, China is only one of our mar
kets. and by no ,neaus the most valu-
able. China is also the most distant
part Of the world from Great Britain.
A little advantage here or little dis
advantage there in China is thus of
far less interest to England than the
paramount question of peace between
the United States and Japan. To the
promotion and maintenance of that
peace everything is in our view sub
ordinate.
Broadly, it will be found that any
settlement satisfactory TO the United
States and Japan will be accepted by
England. Our delegates will put for
have no wish to embarrass the nations
more intimately concerned. If and
when the United States, Japan and
China come to terms, we shall GER
tainly not raise obstacles in the way
of an international ratification. In
deed, our conviction is that. such a
settlement is the natural substitute
for the Anglo-Japanese alliance, which
would, as it were, disappear within the
larger solution. Hence, Great Britain,
while she is not by any means dis
sidered to have all her interests
summed up in the one word peace.
Britain's Part in Chinas Life
These are days when it is well to
speak plainly. No country has more
sympathy with China than has Britain:
1t is sometimes forgotten that one of
the links which binds China together
is the collection Of maritime customs,
and that for more than a half century
this task has been quietly and unosten-
tatiously performed mainly by British
officials who, under international sane
tion, have faithfully rendered a strict
account of every coin passing through
their hands.
Whatever has happened to the money
when it has reached peking, it is ad-
mitted that these revenues have been
collected and transmitted to the Chi
nese government with fidelity which
could not have been more absolute.
Britain, therefore, has had long ex-
perience of China. She looks beneath
the phrases to the facts, and it is with
facts, not phrases, that the conference
must deal. Why are there all these
unfair and sordid concessions? Who
granted the concessions and why? The
bribery and corruption rampant in
Peking are notorious. Every one in
Britain who has any opinion at all
would like to see China rid herself of
her many dishonest mandarins. But
it is useless to formulate beautiful
programs if the men who are to carry
them out have in mind other interests
than the public interests. What China
needs to do is to clean house, and then
she will have very little further trouble
with concessionaries, whether Japanese
or of any other nation. This may seem
to be q harsh view. 1t is my business,
however, to state not what is pleasant