Guo Yuan, Britain's Position concerning the Xisha Islands and Its Consideration of the Relations among China, France and Japan between the 1920s and the 1930s

　　In the 1920s, Britain regarded the Japanese presence in the Xisha Islands as its major rival because it feared such presence would threat its maritime interests. At this time, it did not notice that France and its colonial institutions coveted the Xisha Islands and discussed about it. It was not until the 1930s when the dispute over the Xisha Islands between China and France was about to take place that Britain analysed the purpose of France from the perspective of geopolitics, affirmed China's sovereignty over the Xisha Islands in its internal discussions, and questioned the claim of France. In the late 1930s, when Japan and France were fighting for the Xisha Islands, Britain expressed its willingness to support the French opposition to the Japanese expansion, but it took a ‘non intervention’ position regarding the issue of archipelago ownership, and advocated that China and France should solve the problem through consultation or arbitration. Although it was a backward position compared with the previous situation, it did not support France's appeal. In Britain's strategic layout of Europe and Asia, Southeast Asia and the South China Sea were both in a secondary position, which limited the strategic prediction and response to other countries' struggles in the South China Sea.