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13. Before further action can be taken we must see if any
reply is received from the Chinese to the Chargé d'Affaires*
approach (we may well receive none) and to the company's
letter. Should the Chinese reply to the company be completely
unsatisfactory, or should the Chinese fall to make the payment
due under the contract towards the end of this month, the
company may feel that they ought, on purely commercial grounds,
to take advantage of the clause in the contract which allows
for arbitration in Sweden, though the Chinese are unlikely
ever to agree to give them any financial satisfaction. Before
taking a decision, however, they would consult us.
D. S.S. "Demodocus"
14.
On 1 March we received information from Hong Kong that
the "Demodocus", a Blue Funnel Line ship which had left Shanghai
on 26 February after loading cargo, had been detained at the
Woosung anchorage cutside Shanghai for an alleged breach of
harbour regulations. Our Mission in Peking having failed to
obtain any information either from the China Ocean Shipping
Agency, Blue Funnel's agents in China or from Zhongzhu, the
Chinese State Shipbroking Corporation, addressed a Note to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 11 March asking for infor-
mation about the alleged breach of harbour regulations and for
consular access to those on board. The ship carries no
passengers. The crew is composed of 42 British subjects
(citizens of the United Kingdom) including the wives of the
Master and 2nd Engineer, 2 citizens of the Republic of Ireland,
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