§ 17. Mr. STEWARTasked whether Germans resident in China have actively encouraged a propaganda amongst Chinese in the Press and otherwise hostile to Great Britain and her Allies; whether a meeting was recently held in Shanghai at which German residents resolved to do their best to injure British trade in China; and, if so, whether steps will be taken to prevent British traders from trading with Germans in China?
§ Sir E. GREYThe Germans in China are believed to have acted in the manner described, and I understand that the meeting referred to took place in Shanghai. The Trading with the Enemy Proclamations have been applied by King's Regulations to British subjects in China, and it has also been intimated that transactions with enemy subjects in China which may not be prohibited by the Proclamations are considered to be undesirable.
§ Mr. STEWARTIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that Germans are boasting that we cannot carry on our own trade without their permission, and that our prestige with the Chinese is being very much impaired?
§ Sir E. GREYI have not seen that particular statement, but, if it is so, it is only in character with other statements made in the same quarter, to which little importance need be attached.
§ 16. Mr. STEWARTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether firms in this country have been doing business with German firms in China since the declaration of War; whether merchandise is being carried for German firms in British ships and financed by British banks; whether some of the principal German firms in China are branches of their head offices in Germany to whom the profits on trading referred to will eventually accrue; if so, whether he will give the names of the firms interested in this trade; and will he use his influence to ensure that the requirements of our Chinese customers are supplied through British firms whose profits, if any, may eventually come back to this country, not to Germany?
Mr. RUNCIMANThe emergency legislation and Proclamations relating to trading with the enemy do not prohibit trading with German firms or branches situated in China. The Board of Trade are, however, doing all they can to encourage the transfer of business from German to British firms in China. I fear I could not undertake to obtain a complete list of all German firms doing business in China or of British firms who may be doing business with them.
§ Mr. STEWARTAs every German subject in China is subject to the German Consul before whom the merchants have to plead, cannot they be treated as being in the same position as those living in a German enemy colony?
Mr. RUNCIMANThere are great difficulties about German firms trading in China, and I fear that they could not be treated as though they were living in German territory.
§ 18. Mr. STEWARTasked the President of the Board of Trade whether the opinion expressed in the "Board of Trade Journal" of 31st December, 1914, page 891, that transactions between British traders and German subjects commercially domiciled in China are undesirable at the present time, still hold good; and whether His Majesty's Government will take steps to ensure that those firms who, in defiance of the above opinion, continue to trade with German firms in China get no advantage over those firms who, in deference to the above opinion, do not do so?
Mr. RUNCIMANIt is still the opinion of His Majesty's Government that it is undesirable for British firms to engage in transactions with Germans commercially domiciled in China, and there are reasons for thinking it to be usually disadvantageous from the point of view of the British themselves.
§ Mr. STEWARTCan the right hon. Gentleman do anything to enforce his opinion, and to secure its being respected by firms in this country?
Mr. RUNCIMANI would rather not give particulars of the influence that we can bring to bear, but the hon. Gentleman may take it for granted that we do use it.
§ Mr. STEWARTWill the right hon. Gentleman publish the names in the "Journal"?