CO129-509-5 Applications by Japanese fishermen to use Hong Kong as a base 16-1-1928 - 9-8-1928 — Page 38

Copy.

Enclosure No.11.

37

No.901.

Your Excellency,

I am inclined to agree that permission cannot very well be withheld at this juncture. I feel, however, that it would be wise to state definitely that no further applications can be considered, and that Mr. Kitayama's permit will lapse within a definite period

unless he can make use of it.

The reasons for this could be explained by pointing out that too efficient a fishing trade would undercut the prices obtained by local Chinese fishermen and cause them great hardship. The more these men are thrown out of employment the more likely they are to turn to piracy.

I would suggest that the matter be brought to the notice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies and through him at my request to the Admiralty. It is possible that His Majesty's Government might make use of this to obtain a similar concession from the Japanese and in any case in considering distances of 400 miles it seems to me to be immaterial whether Formosa or Hong Kong is used as base.

Apart from the above it is just possible that His Majesty's Government might encourage a British Fishing Company to carry out deep sea fishing based on Hong Kong. There is no doubt that the craft owned by any such company would be of great value to the Colony in the event of war.

If