Copy
(F 2777/6/10)
.401 (10/100)
British Legation,
Peking.
April 24th, 1928.
112
Sir,
During the course of conversation which I
had recently with Dr. Lo Wen Kan, the newly appointed
Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Peking Government,
he asked me if I thought His Majesty's Government were
thinking of making any move in the direction of imple-
menting their policy in regard to the disposal of the
British share of the Boxer indemnity, for purpose of
mutual benefit, in accordance with the recommendations of
the Willingdon Commission.
2.
I explained to Dr. Lo how in August last the
formation of the provisional committee which we were
then in process of bringing together to make preliminary
investigations in regard to the actual allocation and
expenditure of the funds had been held up owing to the
precarious position of the Nanking Government, certain
members of which had been asked to serve on the committee.
I also made it clear to him that owing to the state of
political confusion in China the drafting of the proposed
Bill to amend the China Indemnity (Application) Act of
1925 had had to be postponed. I said I feared that, if
we were to take up the formation of the provisional commit-
tee where we had left off last August, we might have
more difficulty in collecting the requisite six Chinese
members, who would be acceptable both to north and south.
With
The Right Honourable
Sir Austen Chamberlain, P.C., K.G.,
etc.,
etc.,
etc., Foreign Office,
S.W.1.
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