THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
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دند)
FAR EASTERN (CHINA).
CONFIDENTIAL.
December 30, 1938.
SECTION 1.
[F 13881/34/10]
Copy No. 65
Sir R. Craigie to Viscount Halifax.-(Received December 30.)
(No. 968.) My Lord,
Tokyo, December 2, 1938. WITH reference to my despatch No. 722 of the 21st September, I have the honour to transmit to your Lordship herewith a copy of a memorandum by Mr. I. E. M. Morrison, Honorary Attaché to His Majesty's Embassy, regarding the proportion of arms supplied to China via Hong Kong by various foreign countries during the first half of 1938. The memorandum is based principally on the information supplied by his Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong in his despatch, Confidential (2), of the 14th September to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
2. As I had the honour to inform your Lordship in my telegram No. 825 of the 7th July, the Japanese General Staff represented to the military attaché in July last that there had been a considerable increase in arms traffic through Hong Kong from February onwards, and that about 80 per cent. of the total munitions were being carried on British ships and handled by British agents. The figures supplied by the Governor in his Excellency's despatch No. 39, Secret, of the 9th August (copied to the Secretary of State for the Colonies), and in his Excellency's despatch of the 14th September show that the General Staff's allegations are quite incorrect. In order, therefore, to do something to refute these allegations and similar reports which constantly appear in the Japanese press, I authorised the service attachés to His Majesty's Embassy to inform the General Staff and the Ministry of Marine confidentially of the general conclusions to be derived from the information at the disposal of the Hong Kong authorities. Copies are enclosed of an oral statement left by the military attaché with the General Staff on the 4th November, and of material subsequently used by the naval attaché and military attaché at the Ministry of Marine and the General Staff respectively.
I have, &c.
R. L. CRAIGIE.
Enclosure 1.
Memorandum on the Arms Traffic through Hong Kong during the first half of 1938.
[N.B.-Percentages are approximate only.]
WE have received from the Governor of Hong Kong-
(a) Figures for the arms traffic during the first half of 1938, showing the type
of munition, the volume, and the country of origin.
(b) A more detailed statement showing the day-to-day passage of arms through the colony, the value, the country of origin, the name of the dealer, &c.
Although the traffic has come to an end with the cutting of the Canton- Kowloon Railway, certain interesting facts emerge from a study of these figures, if only because they confirm in greatest detail what we already know, namely, that Germany was not only China's biggest supplier of arms, but far and away her biggest supplier. They show, too, how widespread is the arms racket, fourteen countries being represented. They show what a very minor rôle Great Britain played, although the abuse and criticism was directed at her alone. After careful
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