CO129-477 - Public Offices - 1922 — Page 351

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that he had obtained a certificate of denationali- sation from the Ministry of the Interior;

that he had, while in China, persistently asserted his foreign nationality and denounced his Chinese nationality.

The question is not likely to come up in an acute

form with regard to Chinese British subjects, because the

British consulates in China are not allowed to protect

persons of Chinese parentage merely because they are born

on British soil and the "Consular Instructions" Chapter XXV

Paragraph 25 say that when a British subject has a second

nationality, the nationality of the country in which the

individual actually is shall be regarded as the master

nationality" and he is not entitled to protection against

the authorities of that country . This is emphasized in

Chapter XXII Paragraph 15 which reads:

"Where a British subject or a British protected person applied to a consular officer for protection and the consular officer thinks that there is reason to believe that he is also a subject or citizen of the country in which he is resident, he may require him to produce evidence that by the local law he is not a subject or citizen of that country.

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The American government takes up a similar line,

and most of the other consulates strongly disapprove of the

practice of protecting Chinese, and have warmly applauded the

attitude being taken up by the Mixed Court.

Finally I submit that as a matter of pure law, and

excluding political considerations our position is perfectly

sound for the following reasons:

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