CO129-560-15 Traffic of arms to China 18-2-1937 - 15-11-1937 — Page 163

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There remains the question of practicable routes of supply. All routes conceivably practicable in normal times would seen to be now open, on permanent or temporary grounds, to objections of varying degrees of seriousness. Broadly speaking, dilemma would appear to be that, on one hypothesis either considerable quantities of material would have to be transported across great distances, in undeveloped area, in time to bear some influence on issue of present conflict, or else ground services and necessary facilities for maintenance of new Chinese air force flown from here and comparable in size to that of Great Britain, would have to be improvised and set in operation at a surprising speed in an area perhaps unsuited for the creation and maintenance of complex organisation of such magnitude. Communications would then presumably have to be established between Soviet Union and that area.

On other hypothesis material would be transported or flown by routes on which Japanese forces could destroy or attack it.

But it would be profitless to examine in detail every possible hypothesis and I suggest that, if it is desired to pursue matter further, informant should be asked what route

has been chosen and I should then be glad to say whether objections of nature indicated seemed to apply and if so how far it seemed possible to overcome them.

Addressed to Foreign Office No. 68 Saving;

repeated

to Berlin Saving unnumbered.