§ Mr. ANSTRUTHER-GRAYasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether it is proposed to increase the British garrison in Northern China; and what is the total strength of the contingents of the different Powers signatories to the Nine-Power Treaty?
§ Mr. HACKINGThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. At Tientsin and Peking, the strengths of the contingents of the Powers who were signatories to the Nine-Power Treaty, were, on 1st June—United States of America, 1,331; Belgium, nil; British Empire, 990; China, 80,000 (since reduced to 40,000); France, 1,790; Italy, 391; Japan, 1,907; the Netherlands and Portugal, nil. At Shanghai the corresponding figures for those Powers who maintain contingents were, United States of America, 1,084; British Empire, 1,036; France, 857; Japan, 1,987.