§ 41. Mr. JOHNSTONasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether China offered cash payment for the services rendered in connection with the conquest of the Shantung Railway from the Germans; if such cash payment was refused by Japan; whether he is aware that the Washington Conference in 1921 compelled China to raise a Shantung Railway loan, borrowing from Japan for this purpose; whether the British Government associated itself with this policy; and what were the terms of the loan?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Austen Chamberlain)No such offer appears to have been made by China. No such railway loan was made. The railway was paid for with Chinese Government Treasury Notes, secured on the properties and revenues of the railway. Agreement on the subject was reached between China, and Japan at Washington, but outside the Conference, and His Majesty's Government did not intervene.