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Aide-Mémoire

151

Six vessels of the Ching Kee Steam Navigation

Company, Limited, namely, the "Shenglee", the "Maolee", the "Fenglee", the "Englee", the "Hsinlee" and the "Anlee",

which were in South China at the time of the outbreak in

1937 of the present trouble, were ordered by the Chinese

authorities to proceed to Hongkong, and they have since

been moored in that port.

As these vessels were under charter to the

Dairen Kisen Kabusiki Kaisya, the Ching Kee Steam Naviga-

tion Company early this year decided to take them away,

and, preparations having been completed in respect of the

two vessels, the "Anlee" and the "Maolee", the Company

applied on February 10th to the Hongkong Harbour Office

for clearance permits. The application, however, was

rejected on the ground that legal steps might be taken for the provisional attachment of the vessels.

Subsequent to this, it came to the knowledge

of the Ching Kee Steam Navigation Company that, on the day

when the application for clearance permits was filed, the representative of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, Limited, which holds shares in the capital of the Ching Kee Steam Navigation Company, applied to the Court

of Justice of Hongkong for an injunction to restrain the

vessels from leaving the port, and as the result an inter- locutory injunction was granted on the following day, and on February 17th a perpetual injunction was granted.

It was also learned that on February 21st the

Court of Justice of Chungking, upon complaint by the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, gave judgement ordering the liquidation of the Ching Kee Steam Navigation Company on the charge of having disturbed the public peace by

/attempting

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