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7. His Majesty's Government are prepared to accept the principle that British missionaries should no longer claim the right to purchase land in the interior,
that Chinese converts should look to Chinese law and
not to treaties for protection, and that missionary,
educational and medical institutions will conform to
Chinese laws and regulations applying to similar
Chinese institutions."
It is clear that these proposals imply a radical
modification of the old Treaty position, so far as
British subjects in China are concerned; and, as the
British Colony of Hong Kong is geographically part of
China, the views of the Hong Kong Government and of
the mercantile community of Hong Kong are formulated
in this memorandum and are respectfully submitted for
the consideration of his Majesty's Government.
We agree that the old Treaty position should be
modified as soon as conditions in China as a whole or
in any considerable region of China warrant such
modification, and that the work of drafting such a
treaty should be begun at an early date, in advance
of any visible opportunity of negotiating it. But
we feel that the proposals made by His Majesty's Government, on the 27th January, 1927, and quoted
above, presuppose an orderly, modern Government,
such as does not exist in any part of China at the pre- sent time. Civil war unhappily rages almost everywhere in China; the country has politically disintegrated, and the numerous regional authorities exercise very loose
control