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Comments
4
The Treasury,
Eddard
4.12.36.
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Mr. Clauson asked for my comment on this.
I think it may be true that the Colonial Office
memorandum stated the case against a Customs union
rather strongly, and there is something in the
comments on points of detail made by Mr. Norman
Young and Sir Frederick Leith-Ross. I should
however like to make some further comments.
(a) As regards a free port, there is no mention
of such facilities in Sir Frederick Leith-Ross's
proposal. Obviously such an arrangement would do
something to remove the disadvantages referred to
in the Colonial Office memorandum. The real
difficulty is that in order to provide adequate
a
free port facilities it might be necessary to turn
the great part of Hong Kong into a free port, since
such facilities would be desirable not only for
trade referred to as "non-Chinese entrepot trade"
but for thesamentent of the imports ultimately
destined for China. These are often goods imported
by merchants in Hong Kong without any definite idea
of