CO129-495 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1926 [11-12] — Page 502

In any further communication

on this subject, please quote

No. F 439/1/10.

and addreas

not to any person by name,

but to→→

"The Under-Secretary of State,"

Foreign Office,

London, S.W.1.

CONFIDENTIAL.

sir,

FOREIGN OFFICE.

S.W.1.

17th February, 1926.

491

2.6

I am directed by Secretary Sir Austen Chamberlain to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. C 2081/26 of the 3rd instant, and to state that he much appreciates the very full information furnished to this department as to the situation in Hongkong and Vanton. 2. I am to enclose herein, for the information

of Mr. Secretary Amery, copy of a memorandum, already circulated to the Cabinet, in which the history of the efforts made to cope with the problem is set forth in detail.

In appendix XVIII will be found copies of recent telegrams exchanged between His Majesty's Minister, Peking, His Majesty's Consul-General, Canton, and this department,

referred to by the Governor of Hongkong in his secret

telegram No. 0.0.31 of February 6th. The Memorandum should

be treated as strictly confidential, seeing that it contains

the unparaphrased texts of cypher telegrams.

3.

At the discussions at Hongkong on January

25th, the following suggestions were put forward:

(1)

(ii)

Whether it would be possible to induce

the League of Nations unanimously to pass censure

on the existing Government of Canton for its

defiance of the Treaties;

Whether, in the event of the Canton

Goverment ignoring such a censure, all the

Powers will be willing to institute a boycott

of Canton.

The Under-Secretary of State,

Colonial office.

4./

19.