py.
(F2705/1165/23).
C.K.T. 1552/28.
Sir,
Commercial Relations and Treaties
Department,
Board of Trade,
15
Great George Street,
London, S.W.1.
24th May, 1928.
With reference to your letter of 31st March, No.
F 1165/1165/23, transmitting copy of a letter from the
Colonial Office regarding applications by Japanese firms
for permission to use Hongkong as a base for deep sea fishing
I am directed by the Board of Trade to state that having
regard to the provisions of Article 1 of the Anglo-
Japanese Commercial Treaty of 1911, it does not appear to
the Board that Hongkong, which is a party to that treaty,
is entitled to refuse a permit to a Japanese firm to
establish itself in Hongkong and engage the necessary
premises there or to carry on in Hongkong any of the business
which is referred to in the enclosure to the note addressed
on 21st December, 1927, by the Japanese Consul-General to
the Hongkong Government. Moreover, by virtue of Articles
17 and 19 of the Treaty, Japanese vessels as such are
entitled to receive in Hongkong the same treatment as
British vessels in so far as the use of the port as a base
for deep sea fishing by vessels is concerned.
On the other hand, the Board do not consider that
the expression "national fisheries" used in Article 25 of
the treaty has the narrow interpretation placed upon it in
your letter under reply, and this view is confirmed by the
following extract from a note addressed to Sir Hubert
The Under-Secretary of State,
Foreign Office,
S.W.1.
Llewellyn/