54064/49.
Extract from Ministry of Transport Report
dated 25th November, 1949.
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47. One
One example of the current difficulties in trade with Formosa has recently occurred in Hong Kong. A Government Regulation, whereby Chinese from Formosa (or elsewhere, including Singapore) require passports and visas for Hong Kong has had the result of making it impossible for many Chinese who had booked passages from Keelung to Hong Kong
to take them up. The Indo China SN Co., therefore complied (the China Navigation Co. had toyed with but dropped a similar scheme) with the suggestion of the passengers to take a shipload of them to Macao instead, from which access to Hong Kong is, of course, easy and virtually uncontrolled. The sailing of the "Wingsang" for this purpose was approved by the Portuguese Consul in Hong Kong, but on arrival at Macao permission for the 450 passengers to land was refused. It was obvious that it could not be granted in Hong Kong, so, while the ship worked its cargo, before returning to Keelung, a small armed guard was placed on board to prevent the passengers escaping. On the evening before the ship was due to sail back to Formosa all 450 passengers swarmed overboard and disappeared into Hong Kong. It is understood that this involved a bribe of HK. 500 per head of passenger. The ship finally left Hong Kong for Keelung with one passenger on board. The end of this affair has not yet been beard, but it is typical of the kind of difficulties which occur in trying to run a shipping line in present conditions in the Far East. passenger trade with Formosa is now, in effect, dead.
The
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