378
Blight.
He added that as the Japanese now have an aerodrome
in Formosa they would hardly be in a position to object to
one at Hong Kong,
MR. CLUTTERBUCK pointed out that the aerodrome at Formosa was already in existence at the time that the Treaty was signed and that all the Japanese had been doing was to
enlarge the flying facilities. A point taken by the Legal Advisors was that while the expansion of an existing aerodromе
might be within the Treaty, the construction of an entirely new
one might be a breach.
MR. FASS asked if, in point of fact, the root of the
discussion was not that land values at Hong Kong might
rise. He very much doubted if this could happen in say
six months, and he suggested that negotiations with Japan and America could easily be carried out before there could be any danger of an appreciable rise in the value of the
land.
THE CHAIRMAN suggested that in view of the emphatic Service opinion, the revised Memorandum, amended as regarda certain details suggested by the Foreign represent- ative, should go to the Committee of Imperial Defence, and that the latter should decide whether the proposel of the Governor should be approved in principle before or after negotiations with Japan and America had been completed.
KR. CAMPBELL pointed out the necessity of avoiding any action, however small, that might compromise our position under the Washington Treaty. If we did small things that might be taken as minor infringements it would open the way to other nations to do likewise, and this might result in finally destroying the whole fabric of the Washington Treaty which the Foreign Office considered to be an international
understanding of the greatest importance.
He added that
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