2. Dr. CHAPPLEasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Consortium has at any time considered the grant of loans to China for purely railway work; whether the completion of the Hukuang line, which will connect the north and south of China, and therefore tend to unification and tranquillity, has come before this body in respect to the provision of the needed funds; and whether, in view of the advantage to all railway development in China, the British Government will view sympathetically financial proposals which may bring this about?
Mr. McNEILLRailway construction in China, and the completion of the Hukuang railway in particular, has been from the first one of the primary objects of the Consortium and has frequently been under discussion; its advantages are fully appreciated but conditions in China have hitherto proved an insuperable obstacle to progress. In reply to the last part of the hon. Member's question, I would refer to the answer which I gave on the 29th March to the hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne.
§ Sir H. BRITTAINHas the Consortium functioned in any way since the War?
3. Dr. CHAPPLEasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Consortium with respect to China has, throughout its existence for the last few years, either offered any loan on any conditions to China, or been approached by China with a request to grant such a loan; whether the Consortium commands the confidence of the Chinese Government; and whether he has any information showing that the need for 1179 co-ordinating the point of view of so many countries tends to delay and lack of practical utility?
Mr. McNEILLThe Consortium has on several occasions during the last two years been approached by successive Chinese Governments with a view to obtaining a loan, but negotiations have up to the present led to no result. As regards the second part of the question, the presumption is in the affirmative. As regards the third part, I do not think that the utility of the Consortium has been in any way impaired by the delays which are, to some extent, necessarily involved in any form of international collaboration.