THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
JAPAN.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[F 1758/1/10]
No. 1.
27
February 26, 1932.
SECTION 1.
Colonial Office to Foreign Office.—(Received February 26.)
(Confidential.) Sir,
Colonial Office, February 25, 1932.
I AM directed by Secretary Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister to refer to your letter of the 26th November, and to transmit to you to be laid before Secretary Sir John Simon copies of a despatch from the Governor of Hong Kong, in which he comments upon certain observations made by Sir F. Lindley in his confidential despatch to the Foreign Office, No. 479 of the 1st October, 1931.
Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister presumes that Sir John Simon will cause copy of this despatch to be sent to Sir F. Lindley for his observations.
I am, &c.
H. R. COWELL.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Governor of Hong Kong to Sir P. Cunliffe-Lister.
(Confidential.) Sir,
Hong Kong, January 15, 1932. I HAVE the honour to invite your attention to a statement which appears in paragraph 10 of Sir F. O. Lindley's confidential despatch to the Foreign Office, No. 479 of the 1st October, 1931, printed in a Foreign Office print dated the 3rd November, 1931.
2. This statement, which is to the effect that on the occasion of the anti- Japanese riots in September last the Japanese Government, to appease public opinion, ordered a man-of-war to the Colony, appears to me to be at variance with the actual facts so far as they are known here, and the conclusion drawn, that" it is doubtful whether such a humiliation has ever been suffered by a British Colony in the Far East before," to be, to say the least, entirely misleading.
3. The incident which appears to have given rise to this report was in all probability the visit to the Colony on the 29th September of the Japanese gunboat Saga. This vessel has been for some time stationed at Canton, and pays periodical visits to Hong Kong for the purpose of obtaining supplies.
I enclose copies of correspondence, as under, regarding the visits of the Saga" to Hong Kong, which appeared to be of a routine character.
Visit of June 24th-26th. Visit of July 24th-27th. Visit of August 21st-24th. Visit of September: 24th-27th. Postponement of September visit. Visit of September 29th.
Visit of November: 9th-11th.
4. The visit of the 29th September, occurring as it did a day or two after the outbreak of the local disturbances, evidently led to the currency of rumours which were dealt with by the consul-general for Japan in an interview granted to a representative of the "South China Morning Post." A copy of the newspaper report of this interview is enclosed.
5. It is clear from the consul-general's statement in the press that the visit of the "Saga" had no ostensible connexion with the anti-Japanese disturbances, and her visits here are so frequent as ordinarily to occasion no remark. It is, of course, impossible for this Government to know whether there was any ulterior motive behind the visit of the "Saga" to Hong Kong on the 29th September, but
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