210. A matter which has occasioned considerable heart-burning among the small number of British land-renters in Weihaiwei is the question of the renewal of their leases when the territory is handed back to China, they claiming that these leases have been granted by His Majesty's Government in perpetuity, whereas, article 14 of the agreement stipulates that existing title deeds shall be exchanged for thirty-year leases renewable on the same terms at the option of the holders. The land-renters interested have been informed that the terms of article 14 represented the best terms the British delegates on the Rendition Commission could obtain for them, and that it would be inadvisable to raise the question of the interpretation of the article which, according to our reading of it is in fact tantamount to a perpetual lease before rendition takes place lest the Chinese Government withdraw the terms already offered. It has been arranged, however, that when the time arrives for signing the agreement an informal attempt will be made to secure from the Wai-chiao Pu a formal acceptance of the note addressed to that Ministry by the Legation on the 23rd October, 1924, conveying His Majesty's Government's interpretation of the article in question. Should this attempt prove unsuccessful we can always fall back on the assurance given by the Chinese Government at Washington that they would respect foreign vested interests in the leased territories, and ask that the matter be submitted to arbitration.
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