:
82
(
opinion, affect the main principle that inhabitants
of the leased territory must be deemed to be Chinese
subjects when in Chinese territory, and that His Maj-
esty's Government are, consequently, not warranted in
claiming their rendition.
It appears to Sir Edward that the latter category
of persons stand on a somewhat different footing from
the Anglo-Chinese in Hongkong, a certain class of whom
His Majesty's Government claim to register and protect
in China under the arrangements made in 1904, and it
is, in his opinion, desirable that a distinction should,
as far as possible, be maintained between the two
categories.
Sir Edward apprehends that, if the Chinese
authorities were to detain and punish a man to whom
they had issued a guarantee for safe-conduct, such a
proceeding would afford ground for serious remonstrance,
even admitting that he were a Chinese subject when
within Chinese jurisdiction.
Such a case would, how-
ever, have to be considered on its merits, if and
when