[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.}}
CHINA RAILWAYS.
D
CONFIDENTIAL.
21654
RECR
REGS 15 JUL 10 [June 28:1-
SECTION 1.
358
[23669]
No. 1.
Question asked in the House of Commons, June 28, 1910.
Mr. Arbuthnot,-To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the agreement which provides for the financing and construction of the Hankow- Szechuan Railway lays down that extensions of this railway are to be divided equally between groups representing respectively the United States, Great Britain, and France; if so, whether His Majesty's Government has sanctioned this arrangement; and is he aware that the Chinese Government have already entrusted the construction of these extensions to a Chinese provincial company which has publicly announced that no foreign participation in these cuterprises will be permitted, and has actually commenced work thereon.
Answer.
The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part of the question, an Imperial Order was published in March last authorising the gentry of the Iupei province to form a railway company, to raise capital, and to prepare for the issue of shares. As this decrec seemed open to an interpretation unfavourable to the railway undertakings entered into between China and the British, French, and German financial groups in June 1909, the representatives of the three countries concerned have enquired as to the intention of the Chinese Government in the matter.
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