§ 20 Mr. Moreingasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) whether he will suggest to the Chinese Government that, in justice to British owners who have invested large sums in Chinese land, the power at present exercised by Chinese judges to reduce rents in favour of Chinese tenants should apply to future and not to accrued rents;
(2) what action he proposes to take in order to prevent the serious damage to British commercial interests in Shanghai due to the absence of effective means of recovering rents from defaulting Chinese tenants;
(3) whether he has any statement to make with regard to the action of the Chinese courts in Shanghai in ordering drastic reductions in rent in favour of Chinese tenants in cases where the rents have not been raised since 1927 and are lower than those ruling in other properties?
§ Viscount CranborneI have called for a report on this subject from His Majesty's Ambassador.