HC Deb 23 February 1932 vol 262 cc216-7
65. Mr. MAXTON

(for Mr. KIRKWOOD) asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has inquired into the treatment by the Chinese authorities of Mr. and Mrs. Ruegg, organisers of the Pan Pacific Trade Union, who were arrested in the International Settlement at Shanghai with the assent of the British authorities; and whether he will make a statement?

Mr. EDEN

These persons were arrested, under the name of Noulens, by order of the Special District Court, a purely Chinese tribunal, which alone had jurisdiction over them. The Shanghai municipal police are bound to carry out the orders issued by that court in the exercise of its jurisdiction. It was by the same court's order that Mr. and Mrs. Ruegg were handed over to the extra-Settlement authorities for trial. The hon. Member is in error in saying that these persons were arrested with the assent of the British authorities. Such assent was neither asked for nor given. Mr. and Mrs. Ruegg have in the past enjoyed a variety of aliases, but they have not numbered the British among the selection of nationalities to which they have laid claim. There is, therefore, no ground which would justify my right hon. Friend in making inquiries into their treatment by the Chinese authorities, and he has not done so.

Mr. MAXTON

I thank the hon. Member for his very humorous reply, but does he not think it is rather a curious sidelight on the way in which trade unionists have to work in the Far East when they have to adopt a number of aliases? Does he suggest that these people were engaged in criminal activities?

Mr. EDEN

No, I suggest nothing. Fortunately their activities are not our responsibility.

Mr. MAXTON

May I ask if the British Government take no responsibility for European citizens—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."]—in the International Settlement—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."]. There are too many Under-Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs. Can the hon. Member say if the British Government take no responsibility for European citizens in Shanghai who may be put into circumstances where they may be condemned to death, and is he aware that the rumour is very prevalent in trade union circles that this lady and gentleman have been executed by the Chinese authorities?

Mr. EDEN

This is purely a matter within the jurisdiction of this Chinese court, and we have no authority to intervene, still less so since the persons concerned are not British subjects.

Mr. MAXTON

Do I understand that it is not in the competence of the court in the International Settlement to decide when and if a European subject is suitable for transference to the local Chinese court?

Mr. EDEN

This court has complete jurisdiction, and it exercises it within its own legal powers.

Captain P. MACDONALD

Is not this another matter for the League of Nations Assembly?