Copy
No.454
Copies to:- Peking No.166
F.0. No.103
sir,
H.B.M.Consulate General,
Canton.
October 30th, 1928.
142.
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your
Excellency's despatch No.241 of the 24th October stating
that several of the persons alleged to be members of the
"Wing Hung" opium combine have been traced in Hongkong and
asking for particulars of the Chinese or Consular Law
or Regulation which they have broken.
Your Excellency does not say whether the persons
traced are of British or Chinese nationality or whether
they are the supercargoes who travelled on the ship, in
Chinese waters or the owners who directed operations
from Hongkong. Until these facts are known it is
impossible to say what particular law, British or Chinese,
has been broken.
The following are some of the enactments relating
to the opium trade in China.
1. Dealinge in narcotics by persons subject to
British jurisdiction in China are prohibited by Kings
Regulation No.1 of 1924, known as "The Narcotics
Prohibition Regulations 1924". According to Article 4
(5) of "The China Order in Council 1925", British
jurisdiction extends to "British ships with their boats,
"and the persons and property on board thereof, or belonging
"thereto, being within the limits of this Order". It would
appear from this that even Chinese on board British ships
His Excellency,
The Officer Administering the Government,
Hongkong.
in