75
normally ve accorded to a foreign country by any European power.
If it were explicitly stated in course of negotiations or
stipulated in new Treaty that all Dominions were to enjoy
privileges which Great Britain was alone in a position to bargain
or that they should sign Treaty along with Great Britain the
Chinese might be tempted to contrast severs restrictions on
Chinese Nationals resident in the Union or Australia with
liberal treatment to be accorded to all British subjects in China.
(In this connection you will recall strong protests already
received from Chinese Chargé d'Affaires in London against property
restrictions imposed upon Chinese traders in the Transvaal).
Best way out of the difficulty in Van den Heever's opinion would
be for the United Kingdan only to negotiate and sign the Treaty
it being understood that privileges accorded British subjects
and ships should be claimed to include all His Majesty's subjects
and ships. But he also proposes to advise the Union Government
that reasons which render Dominion participation and inclusion
in a ratification clause undesirable from Union point of view
apply with equal force to inclusion in accession and "nevertheless"
clauses, It is apparently his hope that Chinese will grant
privileges with regard to subjects and ships without insisting upon Dominions acceding to the Treaty within a specified period
of time. In this connection please see Article 31 of
Anglo German Treaty of 1925. If such an arrangement were possible it would no doubt suit Union Government admirably; having no
commercial relations with China they attach no value to never the less clause and are not really much concerned about treatment of few Union Nationals 11kely to be involved. Van Den Heever was
reminded