CID
'A'
1.
See 52 on /37
you Yel 19 ambulance aircraft
28.1.88.2
• desires instructions.
states applications received for assembling
The Governor asks for instructions as to
whether the assembly at Hong Kong should be permitted
of ambulance aircraft purchased by the Chinese Red
Cross.
On the general question of the assembly in
British territory of (military aeroplanes for delivery
The
to China, His Majesty's Government have decided that
it should not be permitted in the present circum-
stances. The question is how far the aircraft at
present concerned come under that prohibition.
Governor states that the impossibility of converting
them to military use has been emphasised, and if
this could in fact be verified before assembly, I
suggest that permission might be granted. It may be,
of course, that this would not prove possible, since
I understand it is comparatively easy to convert a
civil into a military machine. In any case unfortunate
reprecussions in Japan may be anticipated. On the
other hand, we have permitted the League medical
units for China to use Hong Kong as a base, and
permission for the assembly of ambulance aircraft
would seem a natural corollary of such a step.
Provided the aircraft are in fact intended for use
by the Red Cross, I suggest that whatever the reaction
in Japan it would be objectionable to prohibit their
assembly in Hong Kong.
Air Ministry,
52 on /37
?Copy telegram to Foreign Office and
saying that it does not appear to the
Secretary of State that the assembly of these
aeroplanes is prohibited by the terms of Foreign
Office telegram No. 469 of the 18th of November to Nanking
Shanghai, and in view of the use for which they are
intended,