M.03877/38.
30
30
Military Branch.
3rd August, 1938.
Dear Gent,
Will you please refer to Turner's letter M. /38 of the
16th July about the export of motor torpedo boats from this
country to China via Hong Kong.
2.
We
Our objection to allowing the onward carriage of these
boats from Hong Kong in a British ship was the purely practical
one that we considered the Japanese more likely to try to prevent
the arrival of these boats than of other war material.
readily admit that the Board of Trade are right in their state-
ment that the Japanese have shown no evidence of going back on
their undertaking not to interfere with British ships even if
carrying war material. There are however two observations which
Firstly, the boats
we feel bound to make in this connection.
would probably be shipped as deck cargo and would therefore be
easily recognisable. Secondly, while there would, generally
speaking, be no reason to distinguish between these vessels and
other war material, Hague Convention XIII, while expressly
allowing a neutral (Article 7) to permit the export or transit
of arms and munitions of war, definitely imposes on a neutral
(Article 8) the duty of preventing the departure from its
jurisdiction of any vessel intending to cruise or engage in
hostile operations against a belligerent power, which has been
adapted in whole or in part within that jurisdiction for warlike
purposes. It is possible that the Japanese might feel that
this distinction in the Convention would justify them in
regarding these vessels as outside the scope of their
undertaking.
G.E.J. Gent, Esq., D.S.O., 0.B.E., M.C.,
Colonial office,
S.W.1.
3.
With/
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JF.