HC Deb 03 July 1899 vol 73 cc1273-4
MR. J. H. ROBERTS

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will state whether any definite arrangement has yet been arrived at between the British Government and the Tsung-li-Yamên as to the capture and execution of the headman who is principally responsible for the murder of Mr. Fleming, British missionary at Kwei-Chan; whether the representative of the British Government has demanded the dismissal of the governor of the province where the murder was committed, and that this demand has been refused by the Chinese Government; and what course the Government intend to pursue under the circumstances.

* MR. BRODRICK

Her Majesty's Government have demanded the dismissal of the Governor of Kwei-Chan in the event of his failure to arrest the headman of the village where the murder was committed, but in view of the capture and execution of two out of the three who were concerned in the crime, they have agreed to extend the limit of time fixed by Her Majesty's Chargé de' Affaires at Pekin for the apprehension of the headman.