§ MR. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)To ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any I official information to show that the likin Office at Canton seeks to impose a 5 per cent, duty in addition to the usual 5 per cent, customs duty on yarns, and that new import duties are being imposed at Swatow and elsewhere in China; and, if so, will he say whether the consent of Great Britain and the other Powers have been given, and what steps the Government intend to take to prevent such imposition within I likin free areas in China.
(Answer.) No taxation of goods in addition to the import duty can be imposed within a likin free area, and if this has been done at Canton or s elsewhere, representations would at once be made in the proper quarter by His Majesty's representatives, and we have received no information of such representations. If any dispute 684 has arisen as to the limits of any likin free area, no doubt the circumstance will be reported to us.—(Foreign Office.)