CO129-529-4 China- extraterritoriality 23-11-1931 - 31-12-1931 — Page 77

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6023/183.

PARAPHRASE TELEGRAM from the Secretary of State for Dominion

Affairs to the High Commissioner in the Union of South Africa

for H.M.Government in the United Kingdom.

(Sent 5.0 p.m. 16th April, 1931)

Inrediate

Secret. No. 34.

Your telegram 14th April No. 33 Extraterritoriality

in China. It would seem that Van den Heever is under a

misapprehension as to the nature of the proposed treaty and

imagines that it is analogous to an ordinary commercial treaty

conferring upon British subjects and ships benefits to which

they would have no claim apart from the treaty. We should

entirely agree if this were the case that there would be no

objection to the treaty being signed for the United Kingdom alone,

and principles set out in paragraphs (b) et seg of the Report

of the Drafting Committee of the Imperial Conference on the

Form of Commercial Treaties (see pages 33 and 34 of E (30) 34)

would apply. But in fact the position is very different.

The treaties at present in force with China create a special

régime which 18 at present enjoyed by all subjects of His Majesty

in China and the primary object of the new treaty is not to

obtain new benefits for those persons but to surrender, at least

in part, the treaty rights at present enjoyed by them. It was

for this reason that we considered the case one falling within

the scope of paragraph (a) of Report of Drafting Committee

referred to above which I quote in full for the sake of

convenience begins.

When His Majesty in negotiating a treaty

or