CO129-619-1 Parliamentary delegation to China 1-9-1947 - 23-12-1947 — Page 142

140

CONFID NTIAL

67

10. LIQUIDATION COMMISSIONS FOR THE SETTLEMENTS AND

CONCESSIONS.

During the nineteenth century a number of

foreign controlled settlements and concessions were

established on Chinese soil. The actual sovereignty

over those areas remained with China but the

administrative rights were either vested in a

single foreign power (e.g. the British concession

at Tientsin) or in the Treaty Powers as a whole (o.g. the International Settlement at Shanghai).

Of those areas, by far the most important was the

Shanghai International Settlement; in this the most

important interest and proponderating influence was

always British.

2. The roversion of these arcas to Chinose

control was a cardinal cim of modern Chinese

nationalism, which rogarded their existence

as an infringemont of Chinese sovereign rights,

and certain of them roverted to Chinese control

at various times subsequent to 1919. The 1943 Sino-British Treaty (Soo Brief No.8) provided

inter alia for the reversion to Chinese

administration and control of the two remaining British concessions (Tientsin and Canton) and for

the cessation of British rights in respect of

the International Settlements at Shanghai end

Amoy and of the Diplomatic Quarter at Peking (a sort of international settlement sui generis)

The other Powers concerned with the last three

have taken similar action t different dates.

3./