§ 57. Mr. WELLOCKasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that, according to the latest official Returns (1925) of the Chinese Government at Peking, out of a total importation of arms of the value of 7,199,438 haekwan taels, during 1925, more than half were supplied by Germany, or five times more than in 1924; whether he is aware that under Part V, Section 1, Article 170, of the Versailles Peace Treaty, Germany is prohibited from exporting arms or manufacturing arms for export; whether His Majesty's Government has brought this breach of the treaty to the notice of the Council of the League; and whether Germany is still exporting arms to China?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Godfrey Locker-Lampson)The figures quoted in the reply returned to the hon. Member for Lincoln on 9th March last show that arms to the value of Taels 3,813,644 were imported into China in 1925 from German ports; there is, however, nothing to show that the arms in question were not only exported from but also manufactured in Germany, contrary to the terms of Article 170 of the Treaty of Versailles. There has therefore been no occasion to refer the matter to the Council of the League of Nations. Shipments of arms from the port of Hamburg to China are, I understand, still taking place, but their real origin remains uncertain.