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Wire Hong vormis Chan Tun Po, in which plaintiffs, a Chinese firm doing business in Hongkong and Canton, sued defendants, another Chinese firm similarly situated, for some $20,000. Judgment was given for plaintiffs and a counter claim presented by defendants was dismissed by the Hongkong Court. After a lengthy correspondence with the Samshui Magistrate, defendants were ordered to pay the major portion of their debt, but their counterclaim against plaintiffs was allowed by the Magistrate who, in reply to our representation that this counter claim had been disallowed in Hongkong, said that he was obliged to hear the counter claim, both parties being Chinese subjects.
I do not think it would be wise on our part to attempt to force the Chinese Authorities in Canton to write and recognize the judgments of the Hongkong Court, as it is more than likely they would either refuse and insist on rehearing all cases in which Chinese were defendants, involving the attendance of plaintiff and witnesses, or they would retaliate with a demand for a reciprocal arrangement whereby the Hongkong Court would have to enforce