§ Sir W. de FRECEasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether China has requested the cancellation of the 21 demands put forward in 1915 by Japan, taking advantage of the difficulties of the War, and also of the extension of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty; whether one of these demands includes the existence of the lease of the Liao Tung peninsula; whether these demands were discussed at the Washington Conference; and whether, seeing that under these circumstances seven Powers, apart from China and Japan, forming part of the nine-Power group, have a direct interest in the present negotiations, he is prepared to make any statement on the subject?
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§ Mr. McNEILLThe so-called 21 demands were put forward by the Japanese Government in 1915. Some of the demands, including that for the extension of the lease of the Kwantung territory, were accepted in the 1915 Chino-Japanese Treaties. At Washington, the Japanese Delegation declined to allow these Treaties to be made a subject of discussion at the Conference; but they voluntarily made certain modifications in them, and also formally withdrew Group V of the original demands which had been postponed for further negotiation. It does not appear that any official action has recently been taken by the Chinese Government in this matter; but there seems to have been some discussion of the question in the Parliament at Peking. As regards the last part of the question, His Majesty's Government have no statement to make.