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EXTRATERRITORIALITY
I am desired by Her Majesty's Government to assure with Excellency* of its unalterable sympathy towards China with regard to this question and of its readiness when the introduction and the effective acceptance by the country of modern institutions guaranteeing the administration of just laws by an independent and unassailable judiciary will have rendered useful re- forms possible in the matter of jurisdiction over Netherlands nationals, to act in unison with the Governments of the Powers who were represented at the Conference of Washington with the object object of examining the possibility of meeting the aspiration to which the Chinese Delegation at the said Con- ference gave expression and which is reiterated in Your Excellency's Note under reply.
I avail myself, etc.,
(Signed) W. Y. OUDENIJK.
To His Excellency
Doctor Chengting T. Wang,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
of the National Government of the Chinese Republic, Nanking.
NORWEGIAN REPLY.
The following is the English translation of the reply of the Norwegian Government to China's Note concerning the abolition of extraterritoriality.
Légation de Norvége
Peking, Aug. 14, 1929.
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's note of April 27 expressing on behalf of the Chinese Government the desire of China to have the restriction on her jurisdictional sovereignty removed and the hope that the Norwegian Government will take this desire into immediate and sympathetic consideration in order to enable China to assume jurisdiction over all nationals within her domain
Having communicated the contents of the Note to my Government I am now instructed to recall to Your Excellency that the Norwegian Governnient has already, in concluding, on November 12 last year, a new treaty with the Chinese Government, given concrete evidence of the friendly feeling which Norway has always entertained towards China and the Chinese people.
My Government now desires me to reiterate, the assurance, already ex- pressed on that occasion, that the same friendly feelings will not be found to have changed when the question of revising other clauses of the treaty of 1847 between Norway and China is brought up for discussion.
·
As to the question of removing the restrictions on China's jurisdictional sovereignty (by relinquishing
(by relinquishing the consular jurisdiction) this question was already given sympathetic consideration when, in 1926, a Norwegian delegate joined the international Commission to 'inquire into extraterritorial jurisdic-
tion in China.
I may add that the administration of the Norwegian jurisdiction in China has never been extended beyond the purpose for which it was introduced, and I am directed to state in conclusion that my Government has no desire to maintain the Consular Court longer than considered necessary and is pre- pared to abolish the same when all the other Treaty Powers will do so.
(Signed) N. AALL,...
Charge d'Affaires ai.