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ment of the province of Kwong Tung, as it might be argued that a provincial government which does not admit the authority of the central government which was con- templated by the Ordinance is not a provincial government within the meaning of the Ordinance. It is therefore considered advisable to amend the Ordinance so as remove the above doubt.
out.
to
"Chinese
any
4. Accordingly, the bill substitutes the term authority" for the term “Chinese Government" through- The new term Chinese authority " is defined by paragraph (a) of clanse 2 of the bill as meaning person declared by the Governor to be or to represent the person or persons actually exercising authority in any province or other territory which, in the opinion of the Governor, forms or at any time has formed part of the Republic of China".
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5. The persons who may be surrendered under the principal Ordinance are any subject of China accused of an extradition crime committed within the jurisdiction of China or on board a Chinese ship on the high seas": see paragraph (a) of section 2 of the principal Ordinance. The present constitutional condition of China makes it necessary to define the term “jurisdiction of China". This is done by paragraph (c) of clause 2 of the bill which defines the term in question as including the jurisdiction of any Chinese authority as defined above.
6. Another definition is also added by paragraph (c) of clause 2 of the bill, i.e., a definition of the term "National of China", which is defined as meaning every person who, not being a national of any other state, possesses Chinese nationality". Paragraph () of clause 2 of the bill substitutes this new term for the term subject of China" in the definition of “Fugitive criminal” in section 2 of the principal Ordinance, and clause 6 of the bill makes a similar amendment in section 18 of the principal Ordinance.
7. Paragraph (3) of section 4 of the principal Ordinance provides that a fugitive criminal shall not be surrendered unless a certain engagement in the interests of the fugitive criminal is given "by the Chinese Government". Clause 3 of the bill amends that paragraph so as to provide that the engagement must be given by "the Chinese authority to whom he is to be surrendered". The term "Chinese authority " is substituted for the term "Chinese Govern- ment for the reasons given above. The reference to "the Chinese authority to whom he is to be surrendered" is inserted because, by reason of some constitutional change, the actual authority at the time of the surrender might not be the same as the actual authority at the time of the requisition,
8. Section 6 of the principal Ordinance requires the requisition to be made by some officer of the Chinese Government". Clause 4 of the bill amends that section so as to make it possible for the requisition to be made by any Chinese authority as defined above.
9. Section 6 of the principal Ordinance also provides that when the Governor has received a requisition he may, by order, signify to a magistrate that the requisition has been made," and require him to issue his warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive criminal". The fugitive. criminal may, however, already be in custody as such by virtue of a warrant issued by a magistrate under section 8 of the principal Ordinance before the receipt of the Governor's order, In such a case a second warrant of apprehension by the magistrate is obviously unnecessary and this is recognised by section 7 of the principal Ordi- nauce, Section 7 of the Extradition Act, 1870, is similar on this point in its wording to that of section 6 of the principal Ordinance, and it appears that the practice in England, when a fugitive criminal is already in custody as such, is for the Secretary of State to issue his order to the magistrate, not to issue a warrant of apprehension,
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