§ 7. Mr. RANKINasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether it will be a condition of the approval of the £1,500,000 loan toy the British Boxer Indemnity Fund for the purpose of completing the railway between Canton and Hankow, that all railway material required to be imported therefor shall, so far as possible, be of British manufacture?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir John Simon)I understand that the Board of Trustees have under consideration a proposal to raise a loan secured on the half of the British share of the Boxer Indemnity instalments paid to the board in accordance with the terms of the China Indemnity (Application) Act, 1931. The proceeds of the loan would be expended on construction work in connection with the Canton-Hankow Railway in China, and not on foreign material, but the carrying out of this work would subsequently result in large orders for railway material and equipment being placed 841 in this country by the Chinese Government Purchasing Commission in London. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been consulted on the matter, and in the special circumstances he has decided to offer no objection to the proposed sterling loan to be raised in Shanghai.