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2. As you will be aware Mr. E. D. C. Wolfe, Captain Superintendent of Police, and Captain H. F. Bloxham, Assistant Superintendent of Police, left for Canton on the 13th instant to confer with the Government of Canton on the subject of the cooperation of this Government in suppressing piracy.
3. This Government is not aware of any instance in which pirates when attacked by troops of the Government of Canton have escaped to British Territory; it requests full information of any such instances as may be known to the Government of Canton, and meanwhile it emphatically denies that any lack of cooperation on the part of this Govern- ment has in any way hindered the suppression of piracy. On the contrary this Govern- ment has on every possible occasion taken action against Chinese pirates when they were found in the territory or territorial waters of this Colony or on the neighbouring high seas. This Government rendered assistance to the Canton Government in 1914 and in 1922 in connection with piracy suppression and in 1925 actually took part with that Government in a joint expedition against the Bias Bay pirates. One of the pirates cap- tured in this expedition and sentenced to imprisonment by the Chinese Authorities is said to have escaped from gaol in Waichow and has since been identified as one of the accused in connection with the recent "Sunning" piracy.
4. The good faith of this Government in the suppression of piracy is not open to question, and is further proved by the strict search of passengers embarking at ports of this Colony to prevent arms from being taken on board and by the fact that for over two years there has not been a piracy on a ship leaving Hong Kong as her last port. This inay well be contrasted with the inactivity at Chinese ports in the matter of measures for the suppression of piracy.
5. This Government welcomes the opportunity now offered of cooperating with the Government of Canton. If timely information is given, it will do its utmost to arrest any known pirate found within its territories and it will, on adequate information, deal effectively with any pirate who may escape or attempt to escape into the territories or waters of the Colony.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Sd.) C. CLEMENTI,
Governor, &c.
IX.-Letter of 16th December, 1926, from Consul-General, Canton,
to The Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Canton.
Sir,
I have the honour to inform you that I communicated to the Governor of Hong Kong the contents of your letter of 6th instant regarding co-operation in the suppression of pirates.
I am now in receipt of a despatch from His Excellency who states that the Hong Kong Government is not aware of any instance in which pirates when attacked by troops of the Government of Canton have, escaped to British territory. Full information is re- quested of any such instances as may be known to the Government of Canton, and mean- while it is emphatically denied that any lack of co-operation on the part of the Hong Kong Government has in any way hindered the suppression of piracy. On the contrary the Hong Kong Government has on every possible occasion take action against Chinese pirates when they were found in the territory or territorial waters of the Colony or on the neighbouring high seas. It rendered assistance to the Canton Government in 1914 and in 1922 in connection with piracy suppression, and in 1925 actually took part with that Government in a joint expedition against the Bias Bay pirates. One of the pirates captured in this expedition and sentenced to imprisonment by the Chinese Anthorities is said to have escaped from gaol in Waichow and has since been identified as one of the accused in connection with the recent "Sunning" piracy.