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Monsieur le Ministre:

EXTRATERRITORIALITY

CHINESE REPLY TO AMERICA.

Nanking, September 5, 1929.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's Note of August 10th in which you are good enough to transmit to me the views of your Government in regard to the request of the Chinese Government, con- tained in my Note of April 27, for the removal of restrictions on China's juris- dictional sovereignty.

The Chinese Government is pleased to be reminded by the American Gov- ernment that it has, for some time past, given constant and sympathetic con- sideration to the national aspirations of the people of China and that it has repeatedly given concrete evidence of its desire to promote the realisation of those aspirations. The traditional friendship between China and America has not only a common material basis, but is also deeply rooted in the idealism which is common to the Chinese and the American people. The American peo- ple, with their love of liberty, their zeal for justice, their desire to further the advance of civilisation and their sympathy for the aspirations of nations in their spiritual re-birth all of which reveal unmistakably the noble attitude of the American mind, have aroused the admiration and won the love of the Chinese people. This idealism has manifested itself in the abolition of slavery, the growth of democracy, and the endeavour to establish a reign of universal peace, which has given a new hope to the human race. It is this idealism that accounts for the steadfastness of the American Government and people in their friendship for China through all the vicissitudes of her fortunes. It is again this idealism that has prompted the American Government to give sympathetic consideration to the desire of the Chinese Government in connec- tion with the question of jurisdiction and to decide to enter into negotiations for the devising of a method leading to the eventual abolition of Extraterri- torial privileges.

It seems to me, however, from a careful consideration of your Note that the America Government is not yet free from misgivings as to the safety of American lives and property after the abolition of Extraterritoriality. The American Government is undoubtedly aware of the fact that the liberty of American citizens and the security of their property rights do not so much depend upon the continued exercise of jurisdiction by their own Consular Courts, as upon the timely removal of hindrances to the free and full assertion of China's sovereign rights. Extraterritorial privileges, while apparently bene- ficial to foreigners in China in giving the impression of security and safety, have really had the most injurious effect on their relations with the Chinese by producing in the latter the feeling of humiliation and a sense of resentment which have always caused mutual suspicion and the consequent loss of mutual confidence, thus undermining the very foundations of friendly relations and not infrequently giving rise to complications and conflicts. Such conflicts and complications could be easily avoided were there none of those special privileges. In this connexion, it may be pointed out that towards nationals of certain countries who have lost their extraterritorial privileges and have submitted to the jurisdiction of China, the Chinese people enterian the most friendly feel- ings and repose in them great confidence, a valuable asset, it will be admitted, in the intercourse, commercial or otherwise, of any two peoples. Such marked difference in the relations between Chinese and nationals of Extraterritorial Powers on the one hand and those between the Chinese and the nationals of non-extraterritorial Powers on the other will, as long as the extraterritorial system is retained, become more and more pronounced, and much as the Chinese Government may try to discountenance this difference of attitude on the part of its citizens, it will not be within its powers to control the natural expression of their feelings.

In the event, however, of American citizens relinquishing their Extraterri- torial privileges, they may rest assured that they will enjoy the same confidence