THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
23
CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
December 6, 1932.
SECTION 3.
F 8459/5423/10]
No. 1.
Mr. Ingram to Sir John Simon.-(Received December 6.)
(No. 155. T.S.) Sir.
Nanking, October 25, 1932. WITH reference to my telegram No. 391, Tour Series, of to-day's date, I have the honour to enclose herewith certified copies of the notes exchanged between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and myself regarding the appointment of an officer for the certification of Chinese consular invoices in Hong Kong.
2. For purposes of record, I will very briefly set down the course of the discussions on this subject, all the facts of which are already in your possession.
3. The question of how the difficulty regarding the certification of invoices in Hong Kong was to be overcome was first raised with Mr. Holman, my personal representative in Nanking, by the official in the Waichiaopu with whom he was discussing the question of consular invoices in general. This official informed him that the Chinese Legation in London had been instructed to ascertain from the Foreign Office whether the appointment of a Chinese consul could be approved to facilitate the smooth working of the regulations, such officer dealing only with the endorsement of invoices and, if necessary, instead of being called consul, bearing the title of commercial attaché attached to the Chinese Legation in London residing in Hong Kong.
4. This proposal very naturally did not appeal to the Government of Hong Kong, who took the view that, as there was already a Commissioner of Chinese Customs in Hong Kong, he seemed to be the obvious person to certify invoices, and that therefore it was not necessary to appoint any other official for the purpose. This suggestion seemed eminently reasonable, and, after my further suggestion that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce at Hong Kong might be considered as an alternative to the Commissioner of Customs as the certifying authority had been rejected by the Hong Kong Government for reasons the force of which I fully appreciate, you, Sir, informed the Chinese Legation in London that His Majesty's Government did not see the need for a Chinese consular officer in Hong Kong, inasmuch as invoices could be issued by the Commissioner of Customs. The Legation replied that this was not possible, as Customs Service regulations would not allow of such an arrangement. They proposed instead that the Chinese Government should send a special officer to Hong Kong to do the work, and that, if this was not acceptable, it should be done by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce or, in the last resort, by an individual Chinese resident recommended by the Government of Hong Kong and appointed by the Chinese Government.
5. These alternative solutions were considered by the Hong Kong Govern- ment, who decided that the least objectionable of them was the appointment of a special officer, to be called "Chinese Invoice Officer," and they expressed their willingness to accept such an officer, subject to certain stipulations, in the event of the Chinese Government persisting in its refusal to appoint the Commissioner of Customs to be certifying officer. These stipulations were: (a) That the officer`s activities were to be confined purely to the certification of invoices for China; (b) that the officer so named was to be approved by the Hong Kong Government; and (c) that the Chinese Government would withdraw the officer at any time if he became persona non grata to the Hong Kong Government. They maintained, however, that the Commissioner of Customs was so obviously the right person to certify invoices that the opposition to this appointment gave ground for suspicion that the Chinese Government was trying to force Hong Kong to agree to a less acceptable appointment, and they desired, therefore, that the appoinment of the Commissioner of Customs should again be pressed strongly on the Chinese Government.
6. Up to this point the official discussions on this subject between His Majesty's Government and the Chinese Government had taken place in London,
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