893.012/48
The Acting Secretary of State to the Chargé in China ( Perkins )
Sir: The Department has received your despatch No. 2437 dated November 20, 1929,23 enclosing a copy of despatch No. 6231 dated October 30, 1929, from the Consul General at Shanghai,24 in which the suggestion is made that the question of dual nationality of American citizens of Chinese extraction be made the subject of negotiation between the Legation and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order that a mutual agreement may be arrived at in regard to the status of such persons.
In the light of recent developments in relation to extraterritorial rights in China, the Department does not believe that the present offers a suitable occasion for discussing separately with the Chinese Government the question of a possible agreement concerning the jurisdiction to be exercised over persons possessed of dual nationality. The Department is of the opinion that for the present the Consul General should continue to accord such protection to these persons as is possible and proper under the circumstances existing in each particular case. The Department will continue to give consideration to the question of a possible agreement on the subject.
I am [etc.]
- Not printed.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1929, vol. ii, p. 520.↩