CO129-427 - Public Offices - 1915 — Page 86

(97966/15)

Memorandum on the points raised by the

Governor of Hong Kong in his telegram

of July 13th.

62

The general question put at the beginning of the

telegram will be most conveniently dealt with by answer-

ing the specific questions which follow.

1.

This question is fully dealt with in the letter

from the Colonial Office to the Foreign Office of July

FO

12th (28314/15). The result may be summed up as follows;-

Germans in China are enemies for trading purposes under

the Proclamation of June 25th; they are enemies for

Prize Court purposes under the "Derfflinger" judgment

and the recent opinion of the Attorney-General and Mr.

Maurice Hill, The only question therefore remaining is

whether they are to be regarded as enemies for the pur-

pose of acts forbidden only by the common law, which

may roughly be described as "non-commercial" intercourse.

If they are, then such persons are enemies for all pur-

poses. The Colonial office are inclined to take this

view,

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