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German Concession at Tientsin.
At Hankow there are several German establish-
ments in the British Concession, while one very large
British concern the International Export Company
•
has its jetties and godowns on the German Concession.
I mention these details to show how ramified and
complicated the situation is and to accentuate the
difficulty of dealing with an isolated case like
Shameen.
As German subjects in British Concessions are
leaseholders of the British Government, I presume
that we should be justified in cancelling, the
lease in any case where it could be conclusively
shown that the lot-holder's behaviour was a menace
to public safety. But His Majesty's Acting
Consul-General states that there is no ground for
complaint as regards the general behaviour of the
Germans towards the rest of the community and any
action taken towards them collectively would doubt-
less lead to reprisals and open up the whole question
of the status of foreign Concessions in China. The
expulsion