CO129-521-13 Chinese Customs- proposed agreement with Hong Kong 27-8-1930 - 16-10-1930 — Page 409

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perusal and suggest that we should meet again later so

that I might know how he viewed it. I then reminded him

of the talk which I had had with Mr Soong in Nanking the

other day, in the course of which the latter had volun-

teered that if as an alternative some sort of preventive

service could be organised by Hong Kong and paid for by

China, he, ir Seong, would not be averse to it;

indeed,

he told me that he would ask Er Mase to study this matter

so that when I saw him on my arrival in Shanghai we might

be able to go into the matter a little further in case

There were thus two points for immediate con-

of need.

sideration:

(1) how he, Mr Maze, reacted to the November

draft, and (2) in the event of thatmaction not being

favourable, what his view was regarding the possibility

of working out some workable scheme for a preventive

service by Hong Kong on behalf of China,

Kr Hase, whose views were, as I expected, very de-

cided on the whole question, said that from what he

gathered of the contents of the new draft - 1... right

for British flag vessels to navigate inland waters in

Huangsi and Kwantung (Article 5), and privileged factory

treatment (Article 10), he could say right away that his

reaction was likely to be unfavourable, and as to the

alternative suggestion of a preventive service on behalf

of China organised by Hong Kong, he did not think that

that was likely to lead anywhere either.

He doubted very

much whether any such preventive service could be effec-

tive, for one thing.

I next said I understood that he was proposing to

proceed to Bong Kong in the near future. He said: Yes,

on Tuesday week this in response to the suggestion from the new Governor of Hong Kong that he should visit him