本文依据从英国国家档案馆（ＰＲＯ）查阅到的英国政府主要是英国外交部的原 始档案，认为２０年代英国政府鉴于其在华地位的日渐衰落和日、美等新兴列强的竞争加 剧，面对中国日渐高涨的民族主义浪潮，英国对华被迫采取“静观”政策。从这一政策出 发，英国对中国的地方纷争采取的是尽力避免介入的方针。英国政府并未支持和操纵广州 商团叛乱，相反，从一开始英国政府一直试图阻拦“哈佛号”走私军火进广州。英国驻广 州总领事就商团事件向广州政府提出最后通牒事先并未得到英国政府的批准，广州总领事 的这一举动遭到了英国政府的训斥。研究表明，商团叛乱得到了英资汇丰银行的暗中支持， 这一结果并不代表英国政府的态度，它只是表明这一时期英国在华整体利益与部分英商的 局部利益之间所发生的冲突。 Based on the British government’s accession to the British National Archives (PRO), which is mainly based on the original files of the British Foreign Office, the British government considered that in the 1920s, in view of its dwindling position in China and the intensified competition among emerging powers such as Japan and the United States, With the rising tide of nationalism in China, Britain is forced to adopt a “wait and see” policy toward China. Starting from this policy, Britain took the place of local disputes in China is to try to avoid the principle of intervention. The British government did not support and manipulate the rebel guerrillas in Guangzhou. From the very beginning, however, the British government has been trying to stop the “Harvard” smuggling of arms into Guangzhou. The British Consul General in Guangzhou, having lodged a ultimatum with the Guangzhou government regarding the business mission, did not get the approval of the British government in advance. The move by the Consul General in Guangzhou was reprimanded by the British government. Studies show that the rebellion of the business circles has been covertly supported by the British HSBC. This result does not represent the attitude of the British government. It merely shows that what happened between the overall interest of China in Britain and the partial interests of some British businessmen during this period conflict.