Mr. Maze's letter of Sept.23.1929 (p.8 în 5 Ÿ).
(p.8 in SY)
7.0, views on Inland waters
olause
F.0.tel No.355 of Oot.18 (p.9 BY)
Dr. C.T. Wang, Oot. 21. (p.10 in 5 Y).
237
28.
Mr. Mase also offered to allow Chinese produce,
transiting Hongkong from one Treaty Port to another,
to be trans-shipped in Hongkong into junks or trains
without forfeiture of status, and not come as now
under the new National Import Tariff. In reporting
Mr. Mase's offer to the .0. the Legation said it
was unlikely to be of much interest to genuine
British shipping as long as we retained our existing
inland water navigation privileges. It might be as well pending negotiation of a commercial treaty, to
omit all reference to the navigation of Chinese
territorial waters by Hongkong steamers in the
Agreement, The whole question of the right to par- ticipate in the coastal and inland water trade of
China was really one for the shipping companies to
decide.
27. On October 18, the Foreign Office, having heard
that Mr. Maze had made the above offer, to which the
Chinese Customs Commissioner in London was pressing
for a reply, wired stating their view that the ex- tension to British-flag vessels from Hongkong of in-
land water privileges might give rise to friction.
and that the limitation to Chinese-flag ships would
avert this danger, while not seriously diminishing
the benefits to Hongkong. The Minister replied to
this telegram, saying that he was asking the Consul-
General at Canton to consult with the Governor on
the point at issue. Meanwhile, Dr. C.T. Wang did
not help matters by sending a rather offensive message, saying that if the Chinese amendment were not accepted, the consequences might be unpleasant.
28.
Mr. Moss sent a preliminary reply to the
/Legation