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month, and that it would therefore require five months to break the back of the problem by registering 1,250,000; it would be eight months before the whole of Hong Kong's 2,000,000 people could be registered. In this context I had a discussion with the, Commissioner of Police who considered that it would be virtually impossible to improve on this estimate of time since registration must involve photographing and thumb printing every individual. American apparatus is required, which I think might have been ordered carlier, but the Governor promised to see this was ordered at once. I still think stops should be taken to speed up the tempo of registration and I pressed this on the Governor just before leaving.

8.

Trading position of the Colony.

Hong Kong lives by its trade and the question how far it can stand a siege is a subject of intense local interest. On the statistics available to me it would seem that in 1948 almost four fifths of Hong Kong's trade, both imports and exports, was with countries other than China. The problem is, therefore, how far this entrepot business could be maintained if faced with an actively hostile mainland and a boycotto In discussion with the Governor, I found that it would not be satisfactory to accept the published trade statistics as a basis for a final judgment on this issue, There is a large tonnage of un-recorded trade and merchandise of all kinds which comes across the land frontier which novor appears in trade returns. A large part of this tonnage is food, and its cessation due to blockade would be a scrious matter. I saw for myself the kind of thing, that goes on, when inspecting the frontier area, On a peak in Chinose. territory we saw a lookout and below him a number of cattle

On and some, to all appearances, inoffensive peasants. our side of the boundary armed members of the Hong Kong Police Force had them covered with rifles. The arrival of myself, the G.0.0.-in-C. and the G.0.0. in jeeps was obviously an unexpected factor in the situation, but it was explained to me that the men on the Chinese side were only waiting their opportunity to smuggle the cattle over the border under cover of darkness, There would be little chance of preventing this, Further along the frontier we came to the village which has grown up on both sides of the boundary stone and the frontier police demonstrated to me the immense difficulties that would attend any attempt to impose strict control at this point. 9. But, quite apart from the question of frontier control, it is evident that the attitude of many of the commercial interests in Hong Kong will continue to be one of the most intractable factors in planning its defence. The business people want the best of both worlds. They want adequate defence provided for their interests and persons, but

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