JOHN SWIRE & SONS LTD
TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS,
TEMSELOAF, FEN, LONDON.
72775/30
(9
My Lord,
み
8. Billiter Square.
London E
ECS.
5517
19th June, 1930.
Hong Kong Customs Agreement.
X
We ventured to write to you on January 29th, urging the
importance of a satisfactory settlement between the Colony of Hong Kong and the Chinese Customs, and we are greatly disturbed by the latest news from our people in the East to the effect that
a settlement is apparently not even in sight.
It should not be necessary to emphasize the importance of this agreement to the Colony itself, which has suffered so much
in the past from a lack of good relations with China, especially
Canton, and will surely continue to suffer, if the source of
friction between the two Governments, inherent in the present
development of Hong Kong under the increased Chinese tariff as a smuggling centre, is not removed. Apart moreover from the purely colonial aspect of the question there is the far more important matter of Anglo-Chinese relations as a whole and their reactions on British trade with a country, which offers as good a prospect as any other section of our trade of dealing genuinely
with unemployment in this country. If the relations between
Hong Kong and China are not satisfactory, as they will not be
without this agreement, the whole British position suffers.
At one time the Government of Hong Kong were willing to
conclude an agreement with the Customs on certain terms, among
which were the inclusion of Articles V & X. The former proposes
to give certain privileges to vessels under the British flag,
which have not been enjoyed before and to which in view of their
wish to close their inland waters trade to the foreign flag the
Chinese Government will according to all our definite information
and to the best of our own belief never agree. Even if they would, there is considerable divergence of opinion, whether this clause is a good thing in itself, and we ourselves as British
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