§ MR. CHARLES HOBHOUSEI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will state what arrangement has been come to with regard to the navigation of the Whang Poo river between Shanghai and the sea; whether the channel has been deepened; and what is the composition of the controlling authority of the navigation.
§ LORD CRANBORNEThe arrangements concluded between the Powers and China with regard to the Whang Poo navigation are contained in Annex 17 to the Final Protocol of September 7th, 1901, and will be found at pp. 270–72 of the Parliamentary Paper China No. 1, 1902. His Majesty's Minister at Peking reported on March 27th that the 1116 Conservancy Board had been constituted in accordance with Article 3 of Annex 17, with the exception of the Chinese representative, who had not yet been appointed, and that work had therefore not yet commenced.