CO129-507-2 China- protection of Anglo-Chinese 11-11-1927 - 23-11-1928 — Page 19

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Sir M. Lampson realised that the

Chinese authorities might be unreasonable over this but thought that, in order to obtain

a settlement, we must be prepared to risk

b, the idea being I suppose that if once

we agreed to protect Anglo-Chinese who claimed that certificates had been unreasonably

withheld, the Board would be open to interminable claims. I think we must agree with him. Experience so far in Canton seems to indicate that the Chinese authorities are willing to issue certificates in suitable cases without much difficulty and in practice even Sir M. Lampson is prepared to admit that exceptions might have to be made in the early stages at any rate in special cases.

(2) Treatment of children of Anglo-Chinese who have obtained denationalization certificates.

I have tabulated the Peking, F.O.,

and Hong Kong proposals, see opposite. As I suggested in my previous minute, it is not clear whether such children would, or would not, be

regarded by the Chinese as Chinese subjects.

The F.0. want to insist on the Chinese so regarding them and then to treat them in the same way as other Anglo-Chinese. Hong Kong on the other

hand desire that in the case of children born out of China, the Chinese Govt. should agree that they will have one nationality only, i.e. British. I must say that the H.K. proposal seems much the most reasonable. If the F.0. have their way we are faced with the prospect of practically the whole population of H.K., and before long the

herbals

greater