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tracted in Hongkong or elsewhere, treaty or no treaty.
Thina, which pretends to be a civil sod clute, cannot
refuse him assistance
But as the fact of a Chinese having contracted
debts in longkong and afterwards absconded to China is
held by the Hongkong Courts to justify their exercise of
jurisdiction over that person and their right to condemn
him unheard, by default, the real meaning of the term
does, in the matter under consideration, become of con-
siderable importance.
My predecessors have, generally speaking, always
held that a Chinese who has done business in Hongkong and
Canton at the same time, and, although he may have left
the Colony, continues to openly carry on his business in
Canton, is not, properly speaking, an absconding debtor
within the meaning of the Treaty; and again, that Chinese
merchants, resident in Canton, partners in a firm or firms
doing business both in Hongkong and Canton, while undoubt-
edly responsible, uro rata, for the debts of their
Hongkong