Britain to Settle Claims in China for Fraction of Value
LONDON — Britain has agreed to accept a Chinese offer of $41.3 million for British assets confiscated after the 1949 Communist revolution, less than 8% of the sum claimed.
Foreign Office minister Timothy Eggar told the House of Commons on Thursday that Britain would pay China the equivalent of $3.5 million for property requisitioned by Britain during the Korean War of 1950-53.
Britain had originally claimed $840 million for lost assets in China, ranging from a chocolate factory and the Shanghai race club to racing saddles, polo sticks, bathing huts and bonds.
Britain has settled claims against the world’s two major Communist powers.
The Soviet Union began payment last year of about $81 million on claims originally totaling $1.8 billion from the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
Bulgaria has agreed to pay Britain $1.76 million.
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