legitimate" and be removed from the junks. This would
put Chinese junks discharging cargoes from British vessels
in a position no different from that of other Chinese ships
and the assurance referred to in the second paragraph of
this letter therefore appears to have no special value.
Morcover, apart from the point made in telegram
No. 341 of the 23rd September to Tokyo that an assurance
covering all cargoes other than armament stores or troops
would appear to be implicit in sub-paragraph (1) of
telegram No. 321 of the 27th August from Tokyo, in sub-
paragraph (3) of this latter telegram it was also stated
that the Japanese "would not interfere in any way with
neutral ships, even if known to be carrying munitions."
It would, in the Board's opinion, be a serious departure
from this statement if, by interference with the junks or
lighters used for landing cargo at those Chinese ports
where ships have to be unloaded off shore, the Japanese
/were
102