1923年8月14日中午，兩名受英國聖公會差派至四川的傳教士懷賽德(Richard A. Whiteside, 1878-1923)和瓦特（Frederick J. Watt, ?-1923)在距離成都北方約 80 哩、綿州西北方約25哩處的茂縣一帶遭到土匪搶劫並搶殺身亡。這起看似不顯眼 的華洋衝突案件由於四川境內局勢動盪與複雜使得中英之間的交涉過程遭遇到更 多困難與險阻。本文目的在由《英國外務部中國機密檔案》第371號（Great Britain, Foreign Office, Co邱也油+a/作如，No. 371)入手，探討當時英國政府的因應措 施與對英國差會及傳教士的態度，以及英方與四川當局交涉時所探行的一些策略。

Two British missionaries, sent by the Church of England, were killed at Maoxian, located eighty miles north of Chengdu and twenty-five miles northwest of Mianzhou. This disturbance in Sichuan province disrupted Sino-British negotiations. This research examines Britain’s response to this incident and her attitude toward the Chinese in regard to the security of churches and missionaries, and the strategies used during the negotiations by both the Peking and Sichuan governments.