§ MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is in a position to state the result of negotiations with the Government of China relative to their obligations to British subjects in respect of railway contracts.
§ MR. RUNCIMANFinal contracts have been concluded in the case of two railway concessions, viz., those from Shanghai to Nanking and from Canton to the boundary of Hongkong, and the work of construction is proceeding on the former railway. As regards the remaining British railway concessions negotiations are still proceeding, and, though progress is slow, His Majesty's Government cannot anticipate that the Chinese Government will fail in the end to respect the obligations which they have incurred in regard to them.