CO129-542-12 Smuggling from Hong Kong into China 21-1-1933 - 21-8-1933 — Page 89

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and the Mayor were present.

4. Sir Miles referred to the question of

smuggling from Hong Kong into China, and told

them that I took a serious view of the matter.

He urged that the time had arrived when it was

most advisable in the interests of China that

the Customs Agreement so nearly signed in November

1930, should be adopted by Canton. He referred

to General Chen Ming Shu's opposition to the

Agreement when attending a conference in Nanking,

with the result that the Agreement had been dropped.

The Chairman and the Marshal replied that General

Chen Ming Shu had opposed the Agreement on behalf

of the merchants of Kwangtung, and they promised

to investigate the matter in order to discover

whether this opposition could be overcome. Sir

Miles, however, does not feel very optimistic as

regards the chance of getting the Agreement signed.

5. As Sir Frederick Maze proposed to visit

Canton last week, I asked him to bring the matter

up, if possible, with a view to seeing if anything

could be done to overcome the opposition of Canton

to the Agreement. He found an opportunity of mentioning the matter, and was informed that the

Marshal was not sufficiently well acquainted with

the position, but that steps would be taken to pursue the matter further, with a view to the Marshal acquiring a proper appreciation of the

situation. Sir Frederick Maze feels that, while

Canton is not openly opposing the Chinese Maritime

Customs