Chapter 862, British and French stance

Yuyu Hamaguchi stood at the gate and bowed to the ministers present, then said hello in English inexperienced, "Good evening, sir, please forgive us for being late. The recent brutal behavior of Chinese people in the embassy area is really a headache, so I have to make more preparations before traveling."

Juerdian shook his head and sighed, while absent-mindedly, "Oh, who said it was not, it was simply incredible. Well, since we are all here, we should get to the point as soon as possible. Mr. Hamaguchi, and Mr. Takemoto, please sit there as you like."

After Hamaguchi Yuki and Takemoto Kokuho sat down, Zhu Erdian walked from the window to the center of the conference hall and signaled the attendants at the gate to close the door. Then, he cleared his throat and said, "I invite you to meet today. I believe you should be very clear about the purpose. Regarding the previous secret alliance between China and Germany, we have been taking a tough attitude to put pressure on the Nanjing government, but unfortunately the effect is not clear. Now, the Qingyuan Conference, which has a cooperative relationship with us, was arrested by Wu Shaoting five days ago. Of course, this was originally the expected result of both our and the Qingyuan Conference. But unexpectedly, many members of the Qingyuan Conference actually chose to betray Xiong Xiling and in turn put all the blame on Xiong Xiling."

Speaking of this, he sighed heavily, with a look of worry on his face, but to outsiders, this worry was quite pretentious.

He continued: "In other words, our plan has encountered setbacks. If the Qingyuan Conference cannot be carried out as they promised, it will appear very passive to us. Here I have to express some emotion. The Chinese officials are simply incredible. Maybe this is the nature of the inferior nation. In the final analysis, I cannot put hope on them. I have only one purpose for these words. I hope you can reconsider the dialogue policy."

Kubenschi knocked his pipe against the edge of the ashtray on the coffee table, and asked with a strong smell of smoke, "I have heard a new news these days. Your Excellency Juerdian seems to have decided to give up putting pressure on the Nanjing government, right?"

Juerdian's face changed. He felt that the newly appointed Russian ambassador to China was a little ignorant of human nature. He just finished speaking and asked a question directly. This was obviously embarrassing. He coughed and gave a wink at the French ambassador Kant, who was sitting on the sofa like wood.

Kant reacted slowly and said in English with a calm expression: "I think we lack many necessary conditions for further sanctions against China. The most important point is that as the party who leaked the Sino-German Covenant, Tang Shaoyi, he published an article in the Republic of China Times the day before yesterday, personally denied the authenticity of the Sino-German Covenant. The basis for our previous pressure on China came from this point. Now that we have lost the basis, how should we continue to put pressure?"

Yuyu Hamaguchi has been brewing English words for a long time, and at this time he finally couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Gentlemen, I think we should look at the current China problem more deeply. We must not conclude that there is no covenant between China and Germany just because Tang Shaoyi wrote an article in a newspaper. In other words, the European battlefield is now in dire straits, and any slightest international movement can affect the development of the entire war situation. Just imagine, if there is indeed a covenant between China and Germany, and China and Germany are engaged in a little-known conspiracy, what impact will this have on the situation in Europe?"

Juerdian squinted his eyes and looked at Yuyuki Hamaguchi. In his opinion, every Eastern person made him feel unhappy. He had long expected that the *** people would not compromise easily, and always wanted to use the covenant between the Allies to drag Western countries into a meaningless conflict.

"Mr. Binkou, I know what you want to say, but the problem is obvious. It is difficult to continue to put pressure on China before we lack real reasons. You should also see the recent protests and demonstrations in the embassy area very clearly. I can guarantee that this is not just a protest in Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, etc., similar situations have occurred. This shows that what we are doing now is not only angering Wu Shaoting, but also angering the entire China. This has a huge impact on our economic interests in the Far East, and I cannot continue to take risks." Zhu Erdian emphasized.

"As we all know, Tang Shaoyi has been imprisoned by Wu Shaoting, and we cannot even be sure whether this article is really from Tang Shaoyi. In addition, if Tang Shaoyi really wants to clarify this matter, he should contact our Allied Embassy directly and explain it in person, but why did he choose to publish an article in the newspaper? Therefore, on the question of whether the Sino-Germany Covenant exists, we should continue to be vigilant." Yuyuki Hamaguchi said without showing weakness.

"Even so, as long as China continues to claim to maintain a neutral attitude, it will not have any impact on the European battlefield, and the result of this covenant will be the same. Furthermore, with China's current strength, they are far from able to influence the situation in Europe, so why should we do this more than that?" said French Minister Kant.

"Is that so good? What you said!" Hamaguchi Yuyuki showed an angry expression on his face. He said angrily, "Can you ignore it in your eyes as long as it does not affect the interests of Western countries? But have you ever thought that the great *** Empire, one of the Allies, is facing the dilemma now, Wu Shaoting's attitude towards *** has been going on for a day or two. Our *** interests in China have been declining straight since the end of the Qingdao War. Including how much help do you give to the aftermath of Qingdao?"

"Mr. Hamaguchi, please don't forget that in order to support you in the meaningless Qingdao War, our British Empire provided a material assistance worth 2 million pounds. Including asking your Second Fleet to Europe to participate in the logistics escort operation, our British Empire and the French government have paid a considerable amount of funds, but now? Your Second Fleet is already in the hands of the Chinese, and we still uphold the military treaty of the Allies, and have not been held accountable until now. Are you not polite at all, and question us instead?" Juerdian also did not hide his emotions and retorted angrily.

"It is precisely in order to fulfill the agreement that we cannot take it lightly on the issue of China. Just imagine, if China and Germany have indeed signed a covenant, and the Germans' demand is to hope that China will restrain the Far East power of our Allies in Asia. Today, we indulge them, and they will inevitably become more severe. At that time, foreign countries, ***, India, and your Russian lands can all become the targets of the Chinese attack. Oh, by the way, there is Hong Kong!" Yuki Hamaguchi emphasized with a stern voice.

Zhu Erdian's face changed instantly. His original intention was to hope that China could maintain the status quo and continue to treat European wars as a neutral country. After all, the consumption of the European battlefield is increasing, and it is now a matter of hurting people with sanctions and pressure on China. He had also tried to find a pro-British figure who could replace Wu Shaoting, but Xiong Xiling, the only capable central government in the central government, has been arrested, and the Qingyuan Conference was even more betrayal, and the Beiyang Dan Party was also completely on Wu Shaoting's side. China's support for Wu Shaoting is even more obvious. At this time, if we want to oppose Wu Shaoting's election as president, it would be equivalent to opposing the whole of China. He could not bear this responsibility, and the British Empire did not have such considerations at present.

As for whether the Sino-German Covenant really exists, he certainly won’t make a conclusion easily now, but even if there is a Sino-German military covenant, the current power of Britain, France and Russia in the Far East cannot effectively curb China. Instead of making Wu Shaoting angry, it is better to adopt a policy of gentleness and let China adhere to the name of neutrality and relieve a piece of the problem in its heart.
Chapter completed!