CONSULAR INVOICES AND HONGKONG.
30
Br. Wang Tsu-lien, Assistant Director of Inter-
netional affairs in the walicheiopu, had lunch with Mr. Ingram
on October 8th and ofter lunch they discussed the question
of the appointment of an officer for the certification of
invoices in hongkong. kr. Ingram put to Mr. Wang all the
arguments in favour of allowing the work of the certifying
of invoices to be performed by the Commissioner of Customs
or some person attached to the Customs steff in llongkong, but
kr. Sang said that the Chinese Covernment would never accept
that solution.
ar. Ingrem eventually reached the conclusion the t
there was little hope of shaking the Chinese determinetion on
this point and he decided to proceed with the alternative
suggestion kunde by the Hongkong Government in their telegram
to the secretary of State for the Colonies No. 193 of sept.
15th.
I accordingly called on Mr. sang at the aichiaopu
at noon today and informed him that in as much as the Chinese
Government were unwilling to accept what appeared to us to be
the most reasonable ablution, I had been instructed to place
before him an alternative. I explained to him the require-
ments of the hongkong Government as set out in the telegram
referred to and said that for convenience of discussion I
had incorporated them in the draft of an exchange of Notes
between the Linister for Foreign Affairs and kr. Ingram, this
being, in kr. Ingram's view, the most convenient method of
dealing with the metter. Mr. Wang after resding the draft
exchange of botes said that the Chinese could not accept the
title suggested for the special officer end that he did not
like /