sir,
M.03432/35.
CONFIDENTIAL.
29th August,
5
30
With reference to your letter No. F.4985/176/10 of the
19th August, I am commanded by My Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary
of State for Foreign Affairs, that They concur generally in the
terms of the draft despatch which it is proposed to address to
H.M. Ambassador at Peking regarding the scheme, put forward at
the recent interdepartmental conference, of granting certificates
to vessels operating in Chinese waters which are adequately
protected against piracy.
2. My Lords would, however, suggest the following
amendments to the draft despatch:-
(a) paragraph 2 line 25: substitute "efficient" for
adequate in condition (b).
This alteration, although of no intrinsic importance,
would bring the despatch, on this point, into formal conformity
with the record of the interdepartmental conference and with the
despatch on the same subject recently addressed by the Secretary
of State for the Colonies to the officer Administering the
Government of Hong Kong.
(b) paragraph 2 line 30: after condition (c) insert:-
while the scheme was intended primarily for British vessels, it was thought that ships in non-British ownership might also be eligible to apply for the se certificates if the owners so desired. "
In proposing this addition My Lords would recall that
it was suggested at the interdepartmental conference that some
such extension of the scheme was desirable if only to make
provision for ships in non British ownership taken on charter by
British firms. In the view of My Lords it would be advisable
The Under-Secretary of State,
that..
FOREIGN OFFICE,
S. V. 1.
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