loved to(1)
(2)
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2. The abandonment of this claim on the part of His
Majesty's Government will make the issue of denationalisation
certificates by the Government of China a matter of the very
greatest importance to British subjects of Chinese race in
Malaya. In this connection I note with interest the assurance
given to Sir Miles Lampson on 1st February, 1935, by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and mentioned in paragraph 6 of
his despatch of 27th February, 1933, quoted supra, that there
would be no difficulty in regard to the issue of denationalisa-
tion certificates and that their issue would be a routine
matter, provided the applications were in order and the require-
ments of the Law were met. I hope that this will be the case
in practice, but I fear that it may become the new battle-
ground between the Government of China and ourselves.
issue of such certificates has been most infrequent in the
past (the Government Gazette of China has recently notified
two cases, one from Canada and one from Hong Kong), but there
has not yet been adequate opportunity to test in Malaya the
value of the assurance given to Sir liles Lampson. What is
wanted is a simplification of the procedure that has to be
followed by applicants for certificates of denationalisation and a reduction of the time required. I would urge that His Majesty's Government should press for such certificates to be issued at Chinese Consulates in Malaya to any person in
possession of a British passport and that the time that should
elapse between the date of application and the date of issue
should be reduced to the minimum.
The
I have the honour to be,
Sir!
Your most obedient, humble servant,
Dovern
Governor.