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Aide-Mémoire
151
Six vessels of the Ching Kee Steam Navigation
Company, Limited, namely, the "Shenglee", the "Maolee", the "Fenglee", the "Englee", the "Hsinlee" and the "Anlee",
which were in South China at the time of the outbreak in
1937 of the present trouble, were ordered by the Chinese
authorities to proceed to Hongkong, and they have since
been moored in that port.
As these vessels were under charter to the
Dairen Kisen Kabusiki Kaisya, the Ching Kee Steam Naviga-
tion Company early this year decided to take them away,
and, preparations having been completed in respect of the
two vessels, the "Anlee" and the "Maolee", the Company
applied on February 10th to the Hongkong Harbour Office
for clearance permits. The application, however, was
rejected on the ground that legal steps might be taken for the provisional attachment of the vessels.
Subsequent to this, it came to the knowledge
of the Ching Kee Steam Navigation Company that, on the day
when the application for clearance permits was filed, the representative of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, Limited, which holds shares in the capital of the Ching Kee Steam Navigation Company, applied to the Court
of Justice of Hongkong for an injunction to restrain the
vessels from leaving the port, and as the result an inter- locutory injunction was granted on the following day, and on February 17th a perpetual injunction was granted.
It was also learned that on February 21st the
Court of Justice of Chungking, upon complaint by the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, gave judgement ordering the liquidation of the Ching Kee Steam Navigation Company on the charge of having disturbed the public peace by
/attempting
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