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to be sent into China by rail. In that
event Article 8 of the Convention to which
the Admiralty refer on page 2 of No. 4 does
not seem to apply. The boats are to be
taken out of the hold of s.s. "Somali" in
which they will arrive in Hong Kong on the
12th June; they will be stored on land and
then put on to the railway for China. There
is no question, as far as I can see, of
their being fitted out or armed,
at any rate
within the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong
Government, and as far as their fitting out
in this country is concerned their export
from the U.K. was authorized by a Board of
Trade licence, although not apparently by an
Admiralty licence. As far as Hong Kong is
concerned their export is no more objectionable
than the export of aircraft, guns or
ammunition by the Canton Railway .
The Governor in his telegram, No. 6,
does not suggest that it is his intention
to interfere with the project of the agents
of the Chinese Government in respect of these
two vessels, but I think it would help him
if we could tell him that H.M.G. had no
objection to offer to that project since there
appear to be other similar vessels which are
likely to be shipped to China via Hong Kong.
I suggest that a copy of (6) should
be sent to the Foreign Office, Admiralty and
Board of Trade semi-officially, and we should
cover