HC Deb 30 March 1909 vol 3 c166
Sir GEORGE DOUGHTY (for Earl Winterton)

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, whether His Majesty's Government have received official notification that China has addressed a formal despatch to the Japanese Minister in Peking asking that the whole of the Manchurian Question shall be submitted to The Hague tribunal; whether they have received official advice that the Japanese Minister is endeavouring to induce China to withdraw this despatch; and, if this is the case, do His Majesty's Government propose to take any steps in the matter, and are they prepared to instruct His Majesty's Minister in Peking to support China in this demand?

Sir E. GREY

His Majesty's Government have received no notification on the subject either from China or Japan, though I understand that the Japanese Government have declined to submit to arbitration certain questions connected with Manchuria. I do not see on what ground His Majesty's Government can intervene in the matter.