793.003/409
Tentative Redraft of the Final Paragraph of Article 10 of the Draft Agreement59
“… commercial vessels in Chinese ports or coastal waters or rivers shall not be subject to any form of commandeering or requisition; nor shall such vessels be inspected, searched, boarded or subjected to any kind of restraint by Chinese military or other armed authority except by agreement with the captain of the vessel. They may not be boarded by Chinese police nor may any person subject to the jurisdiction of Chinese courts be arrested on board any such vessel except upon a warrant formally issued by a modern law court specifically citing by title and section the law under which such action is authorized. In the absence of such a warrant, Chinese police may only board a vessel by agreement with the captain. … commercial vessels shall not be compelled to carry Chinese troops, whether armed or unarmed, or Chinese military supplies. In general, treatment accorded to … commercial vessels in Chinese ports or coastal waters or rivers shall be in conformity with that accorded under recognized international practice by maritime nations to vessels of other countries in their ports or territorial waters. Nothing in this article shall be interpreted, however, as limiting the present authority of the Chinese Maritime Customs with regard to American vessels”.
- Handed to the Counselor of the British Embassy by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs on September 6, 1930.↩