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The fourth machine now at Hong Kong is described as a Condor commercial transport aeroplane. We have no evidence to show whether these are more or less easily transported in parts to Loiwing than the Vultee; but if enquiries are being made about the latter obviously they might as well be made about the dimensions of the former too.
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2. An examination of the case of these particular machines opens up rather wider questions, and I am not sure that, in dealing with the Governor's telegram 238-C, we were not unduly conservative in supporting him (vide our reply No.261 of 29th April - copy to Foreign Office under endorsement B. 2031 of 30th April) in refusing a lease of land at Lashio for the assembly of transport 'planes possibly the
the very 4 now in question - or at any rate in accepting Governor's view that refusal should rest on the reasoning which led up to paragraph 5 of Foreign Office telegram of 28th December last (F.12871/4027/61) to Clark-Kerr. Leaving aside the particular considerations which make it undesirable that any aeroplanes should be assembled at Hong Kong and flown from thereto China, you will remember that, in their letter of 20th March 1939, S. 42436/S.6 (Foreign Office reference F.2792/118/10) the Air Ministry pressed the point that we must not, by taking too rigid a line in regard to exports from British territory, prejudice our right freely to import by air from neutral states aircraft intended for the use of our own or Allied air forces subject to the restrictions contemplated by Article 46 of the draft Hague Rules and a fortiori our right to import aircraft not designed for military use. The 4 machines now at Hong Kong about which the Chinese Government are anxious are all stated in Gent's letter of 22nd May to be commercial transport machines and 3 of them to be definitely the
There property of the China National Aviation Company. therefore seems no political objection to their being assembled in British territory in Burma and flown complete into China if that is the most convenient thing for all parties. That is not to say that land should now be leased at Lashio, but in view of the suggestion in paragraph 2 of our telegram No.147 to the Governor of Burma about Mr. Pawley's offer of a share of the Loiwing output, that the extra plant he has in view might perhaps be set up and used in Burma rather than as an extension of the factory at Loiwing, it would seem very desirable to get our minds clear on the point. If manufacture is started in Burma on some
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