CO129-521-12 Chinese Customs- proposed agreement with Hong Kong 2-4-1930 - 16-6-1930 — Page 51

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Now apparently Peel has gone back on what had been more or

less agreed and will not even let the Customs function in the Colony.

•*.

It is

We know that Maze will not look at their ideas and it is pretty

obvious that more or less of a deadlock has been reached.

also very much to be feared that a solution will never be reached,

until orders are sent out to the Hong Kong Government from the Colonial Office, that an agreement must be concluded.

The Hong Kong Government, in refusing to come to an agreement

with the Customs, is not only prejudicing the Colony, but is also doing its best to prejudice British interests and the whole British position in China. If an agreement is not come to, the Custome will be forced, as Maze has said quite frankly, to do its best to prevent smuggling and so incidentally put the screw on the Colony by means of a Customs cordon and, if they did agree to the Hong

(which Kong Government's latest proposal to do the work themselves they will not), it would merely put the responsibility on to Hong Kong and lead to endless dissatisfaction on the part of the Customs and complaints that Hong Kong was not doing the job properly.

Such a state of affairs of course would be fatal. A lot of the

opposition to this agreement is undoubtedly fostered by the Hong Kong Chinese, who presumably think they have little to lose and

much to gain by the continuance of the Colony as a smugglers' den,

such as it is rapidly becoming. They also of course are in favour

of Article 5. I can hardly think that this state of affairs is

desirable.

Maze

The above are merely local considerations and the big is the 1.G. Chinese Customs