(Hong Kong) The parties disputed ownership of 40 aircraft on an airfield at Kai Tak. The object of the suit brought by an American corporation was to recover possession of airplanes in Hong Kong which had been sold by the Nationalist Government of China to the plaintiff corporation’s predecessor in interest in December 1949, before the British recognition of the Communist Government.
Held: The validity of the sale was recognized and the claim of the Communist Government to the property was denied by the court since it was shown that the Communist Government had not taken possession of the property and the subsequent recognition was held not to operate retroactively to extinguish the title of the purchaser. Under the (foreign) act of state doctrine
Viscount Simon
[1952] UKPC 25, [1952] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 259, [1952] 2 All ER 733, [1952] 2 TLR 621, [1953] AC 70
Bailii
England and Wales
International
Updated: 05 December 2021; Ref: scu.445967