com
Clutterbuck 22/9
G. Grindle 22/9
Amery
L.S.A.
Paraphrase telegram from the Secretary of State for the
22/9
Colonies to the Governor of Hong Kong.
F
(Sent 6.30 p.m. 22nd September, 1926).
289
Concurred in by FO
The 2249
Secret. Canton Situation.
Your telegrams of the 20th September have been carefully considered. In view of the undertaking given by the Canton Government to remove the boycott on or before October 10th I do not think an immediate ultimatum possible though I sympathise with your doubts as to their sincerity. We would be virtually ignoring the undertaking now given if we were to make the reply which you recommend and if we were to ignore the undertaking we would not be in a strong position to defend our procedure against criticism. The better policy seems to me to assume that the Canton Government are sincere in their undertaking and wait until October 10th to see if they fulfil it before taking drastic action. If the boycott is removed by that date the position will be satisfactory. If however we find that the Canton Government are not sincere and that the boycott has not been removed by October 10th we shall then be provided with undeniable right to adopt such coercive measures as are considered practicable.
As regards the Canton Government's proposals for raising funds we propose to maintain silence at this stage. It is possible that the Canton Government may later take the line that the removal of the boycott was dependent on increased; taxation and if we maintain silence now we shall be in a
better position to deny later that the two here in any way connected and so have out hands free for action if on
Comp. 244 Dept. E
q Lo187
October
1
}