MK. CURZON (Lancashire, Southport)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the attention of Her Majesty's Government has been called to the recent action of French troops in occupying Siamese posts upon the Mekong River; whether they have invited or received any explanation on the matter from the French Government; whether the French claim to all territory lying upon the left or east bank of the Mekong River is recognised by Her Majesty's Government; and whether Her Majesty's Government consider those proceedings of the French inimical to the political or commercial independence of Siam?
§ *SIR E. GREYHer Majesty's Government have received Reports from different quarters with regard to the recent action of the French troops on the Mekong. They have not thought it desirable to address to the French Government any request for explanations on the subject, and the French Government have not as yet offered such explanations. So far as Her Majesty's Government know, the French have not distinctly intimated what territory they claim on the east of the Mekong, and in the present state of the question Her Majesty's Government are not in a position to express an opinion as to the effect which these proceedings may have on the political or commercial independence of Siam.