41.
250
(p.12 in 5Y)
it. The Minister has telegraphed, in reply,
to the Foreign Office, suggesting that till we
are quite sure what we do want, it would be better
not to send the agreement to Mr. Maze, who would
have to show it to the members of the Chinese
Government before making any written reply. The
Minister also expresses the opinion that we have
been apt to lose sight of the main issues in con-
sideration of what we can get out of the bargain.
The question is - does the smuggling (which is
a question of fact) make it imperative to conclude
an agreement to allow the Customs to function at
Hongkong so as to remove any grievance? if it
does, we should make the agreement, whatever we
get in return. On the other hand, if it does not,
is there not some danger of assimilating Hongkong
to the status of a treaty port by allowing the
Customs to function there and increasing the ir-
redentist feeling? The Minister suggests that
he should discuss the question with Mr. Kaze for-
mally on his forthcoming journey south, and find
out the probable re-action of the Chinese Govern-
ment to the Hongkong amendments incorporated in
the November draft.
43. A summary of the arguments concerning this
question is given in the next session.