the text of the law locally, but doubtless it will
be found in the records of the Legation, and if an
English translation has already been made, I shall
be grateful for a copy. Your instructions are also
requested regarding the action, if any, that you wish
me to take in respect of this notification and its
acknowledgment.
The present
3. In case my comments thereon are desired, I
would submit that provided the term "Chinese" were
more clearly defined and the machinery for enabling
a Chinese to renounce his nationality in the manner
indicated were efficiently established, the proposed
system, possibly with modifications, might provide
a good solution of a difficult problem.
position in this district regarding Chinese British
subjects is that the Chinese authorities claim and
exercise jurisdiction over all persons of Chinese
race regardless of where they are born or for how
many generations their ancestors may have been
domiciled abroad. Consular representations and pro-
tests are invariably met by the answer that the
person concerned remains Chinese until he has divested
himself of his nationality in accordance with the
Chinese nationality law, quite regardless of the fact
that hitherto no arrangement have been made in the
South to enable that process to be effected. It is
not only British Chinese who are treated in this way.
My
92