§ 45. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any reply has been received from the Nationalist Government of China to the joint Note of the Powers regarding the recent events at Nanking; and what is the nature of the reply?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONSeparate replies were received on 14th April by the Consuls-General of the five Powers to the identic Notes delivered by them to Mr. Chen on 11th April. I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the text of the reply received by His Majesty's Consul-General. The replies to the other Powers are to the same general effect, with variations of detail in each case.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYWould it be convenient for the hon. Gentleman to tell me whether we are making any further reply or taking any further steps?
Following is the text of reply handed by Mr. Chen to His Majesty's Consul-General at Hankow on 14th, April, 1927:1. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government is in receipt of His Britannic Majesty's Government's Note dated 11th April, 1927, formulating terms for the prompt settlement of the situation caused by the outrages against British Nationals committed by the Nationalist troops at Nanking on 24th March last.'2. In reply to the demand for 'complete reparation for the personal injuries and material damage done,' the Nationalist Government are prepared to make good all damage done to the British Consulate at Nanking on the ground that, whether or not such damage was caused by Northern rebels and others as stated in the preliminary statements issued by the Nationalist Government on 31st March last, the fact remains that British Consulate on Chinese territory has been violated. As regards reparation for personal injuries to British nationals and other material damage done, the Nationalist Government are prepared to make all reasonable necessary reparations except in cases where it can be definitely proved that the same have been caused by the British-American bombardment of Nanking on 24th March, or by Northern rebels 666 and agents provocateurs. The demand for 'adequate punishment for commanders of the troops responsible for the murders, the personal injuries and indignities and material damage done as also of all persons found to be implicated,' necessarily assumes the guilt of the Nationalist forces who captured Nanking. While this guilt is contradicted in the preliminary statement issued on 31st March, a rigid Government inquiry-is being conducted in order to ascertain the, exact facts of the case, including verification of the outstanding fact reported to the military council by General Cheng Chien who took Nanking, that his forces rounded up and captured approximately thirty thousand Northern soldiers with rifles, besides-thousands of camp followers, inside the city of Nanking itself. General Chen Chien has also reported that a number of those implicated have been executed. The Nationalist Government propose that the question of punishment should await the findings of either the Government inquiry now in progress or of an international commission of inquiry to be immediately instituted by the Nationalist Government and His Britannic Majesty's Government. As the laws of nations and the settled practice of civilised States prohibit the massacre of the citizens of a friendly State, the more so when such citizens are in their own territory, and also prohibit the bombardment of the cities of friendly States, the Nationalist Government propose that the said international commission of inquiry shall investigate the circumstances of the bombardment of the unfortified city of Nanking on 24th March last by the naval forces of His Britannic Majesty's Government as well as the other outrages committed successively by British controlled armed forces at Shanghai on 30th May by British armed marines and. volunteers off the Shameen on 23th June, 1925, and by British naval forces at Wanhsien last year.3. The demand for an apology in writing from the Commander-in-Chief of the Nationalist army, including an express written undertaking to refrain from all forms of violence and agitation against foreign lives and property, is, so far as an apology is concerned, justified only on the-proof of Nationalist guilt for the disturbances at Nanking. The Nationalist Government, therefore, propose that question of an apology should also await the determination of the question of guilt either by the Government inquiry now in progress or by the proposed international commission of inquiry. In the meantime, the Nationalist Government hereby repeat the expression of profound regret which the Minister for Foreign Affairs communicated to the British representative at Wuhan directly it was reported to him that the British Consulate at Nanking had been attacked. The Nationalist Government, as a responsible governing body, naturally cannot countenance the use, in any form, of violence and agitation against foreign lives and property, indeed, the protection of foreign lives and property has been repeatedly declared to be the settled policy of the Nationalist Government. The 667 proper authorities of the Nationalist army will, of course, be instructed not only to give a written undertaking in this sense, but to see that effective measures are taken to afford proper protection to foreign lives and property.4. The Nationalist Government, however, would be lacking in candour if they should fail to declare and emphasise that the best guarantee for the effective protection of British and other foreign lives and property in China lies in the removal of the fundamental cause of the present trouble between Nationalist China and the Powers who continue to sustain the régime of the unequal treaties. It is these inequitable treaties that constitute the chief danger to foreign lives and property in China, and this danger will persist as long as effective government is rendered difficult by foreign insistence on conditions which are at once a humiliation and a menace to a nation that has known greatness and is to-day conscious of renewed strength. The Nationalist Government, accordingly, are prepared and ready to appoint delegates to negotiate with delegates of His Britannic Majesty's Government a satisfactory settlement of issues and differences pending between Nationalist China and Great Britain on terms which, while assuring the legitimate interests of the latter, shall modernise international intercourse between the two countries and define and work out their mutual interests and relations on a basis of equality and reciprocity.