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Copy of Notice in Board of Trade Journal (page 891), 31st December, 1914,
COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH ENEMY TRADERS IN CHINA.
H. M. Minister at Peking has been instructed by the Foreign Office to issue Urgent King's Regulations applying the Proclamations of 9th September, 8th October, and 26th October, relating to Trading with the Enemy, to all British subjects in China, The effect of such Regulations is to prohibit British subjects in Shanghai or other places in China from entering into the transactions prohibited in the Proclamations in question with any person or body of persons resident or carrying on business in Germany, Austria-Hungary, or Turkey, and in the Colonies and Dependencies thereof; or with the agents in China of any such person or body of persons, if the transaction is in effect one with the bead office. Transactions between British aubjects in China and branches of "enemy" firms situated in neutral territory in Europe are also prohibited.
It will be observed that transactions between British traders in the United Kingdom and in China, and German, Austro-Hungarian, or Turkish subjects, and firma commercially domiciled in China are not expressly prohibited. It is the opinion of H.M. Government, however, that such transactions are undesirable at the present time.
Commercial Intelligence Branch,
Board of Trade.
Extract from Letter of 16th February, 1915, from Tientsin Branch.
TRADING WITH THE ENEMY.
No further progress has been actually made in regard to this along the lines favoured by the meeting held here on November 6th (a copy of the Minutes of which you have already had) owing to the divergence of views held by the China Branches, and it is therefore all the more gratifying to my Committee to learn from your letter under reply that your Committee are of much the same opinion as they, and that further the Foreign Office appear to be not averse to extending the existing prohibitions. My Committee will accordingly be interested to receive a copy of your further letter to the Foreign Office on the subject. I am to point out that a forward step in the right direction has been taken in the latest Regulations issued by H.M. Minister in Peking (January 29th, 1915), which preclude British persons resident in China from
transactions (a) in " respect of banking business with a branch situated outside the United Kingdom of an enemy person, firm or company; or (b) in respect of any description of business with a branch situated outside the United Kingdom of an enemy Bank." And it is the opinion of my committee that if similar restrictions were imposed upon shipping facilities the enemies' trading would be practically brought to a standstill, even though like restrictions were not imposed upon their nationals by the Governments of Allied Countries. It is to be hoped that the Foreign Offico will fall in with the auggestion that your Committee was about to make them, and invite our Allies to adopt similar measures, and that those Governments will accede to the request.
SIR,
China Association, London, to Foreign Office, London.
China Association, London,
9th March, 1915.
With reference to my letter of the 1st February on the subject of the "Trading with the Enemy Bill" in connection with enemy firms resident in the Treaty Ports of China, we have received the following telegram from our Shanghai Branch:-
"Enemy Trading. Germans making great capital out of business as usual "with Manchester. Consider time arrived for stringent proclamation clearly defining and prohibiting enemy trading China Germans to be considered enemy in "most strict sense.'
It is doubtless difficult for us satisfactorily to explain to Chinese the somewhat anomalous position of affairs under which German firms have been compulsorily liquidated in Hongkong, while many of the same firms are allowed to carry on business with this country at the Treaty Ports of China.
German residents in China make no secret of their hostility to Great Britain, and of their desire to injure our interests there as much as possible; the propaganda carried on by Germans has already done something towards creating distrust of British aims and policy, and stirring up ill-feeling towards us amongst the Chinese people. In spite of this the policy of His Majesty's Government appears to encourage German firmas to carry on their business in China, and enables them to obtain assistance to this end. According to the Shanghai telegram Germans in China are making great capital out of this privileged position, and are doubtless representing to Chinese that Great Britain is
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