Mr. BECKETTasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if any negotiations have taken place between the Nationalist Commander in Shanghai and the British authorities; and whether he can make any statement with regard to the same?
§ Sir A. CHAMBERLAINYes, Sir. His Majesty's Consul-General with his Japanese and French colleagues, the Commissioner of Customs and the Chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, met the Nationalist General yesterday morning and urged him to control the irregulars and to stop the sniping which had already caused casualties to the foreign forces. The Nationalist Commander, whose attitude was moderate and reasonable, said that he assumed responsibility for the maintenance of order and was taking steps for the elimination of unauthorised bodies functioning in the name of the Nationalist Government. Fie hoped that the strike would be called off to-day. His Majesty's Consul-General reports that the attitude of the irregulars and armed labourers led by Communist agitators is still uncertain, but that order prevails in the Settlement.