CO129-529-5 China- extraterritoriality 23-11-1931 - 31-12-1931 — Page 118

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B. that British subjects of Chinese race who visit

China and whose names are registered at a British Consulate in China and have been communicated to the Chinese authorities will be afforded protection for a period of six months but that such persons will be afforded no further protection and no claim will be made to protect them as British subjects after the expiration of that period unless in the meantime they have secured from the Chinese authorities a certificate of denationali- zation under the Chinese Law of Nationality;

C. that children of such British subjects of Chinese race who have obtained a certificate of

denationalization, who are born in British Territory or British Protected Territory after the denationalization of the father are not possessed of Chinese nationality.

Our

In the absence of any exchange of notes at the

time of signature of the Treaty "Subjects of His Majesty" and "persons under His Majesty's protection" must bear the meanings which they are held to have in Chinese Law, as under the principle embodied in Article 4 of the Convention on the Conflict of Nationality Laws adopted by the Conference for the Codification of International Law, held at The Hague in March and April of 1950, "a State may not afford diplomatic protection to one of its nationals against a State whose nationality such person also possesses". Municipal Law cannot therefore prevail against Chinese Law in matters in which they are in conflict, as is especially the case with respect to British born subjects and British protected persons of Chinese race, who have a dual nationality. 4. If therefore the draft Treaty is of no benefit to British subjects of Chinese race, it follows that it is also of no avail to those British protected persons who are of Chinese race, although under Article 17 of the draft Treaty British protected persons are put in the same position under the Treaty as British subjects.

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