CO129-564-1 Sino-Japanese War- landing of foreign military aircraft in Hong Kong 8-10-1937 - 26-12-1937 — Page 29

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Acting Governor of Hong Kong refers to this in his telegram

No.223 enclosed in Colonial Office letter under reference.

3. Mr. Eden would accordingly suggest that the

Acting Governor of Hong Kong should now be instructed that

any applications for permission to fly over the Colony or its waters in respect of Chinese and Japanese military aircraft should be refused.

Any aircraft which attempted

such a flight should be compelled to land and proceedings should be taken as provided by the Order. The aircraft should be detained temporarily if there is power to do this, and the matter should be reported to His Majesty's Government.

4.

It is appreciated that these instructions will not cover the case of a landing due to force majeure; nor, subject to any temporary right of detention, will they enable the authorities to intern the aircraft or its personnel (as would be the case if a state of war existed) other than the pilot or other person responsible for the unauthorised flight, who may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment which would probably expire before the termination of the present Sino-Japanese dispute. It is not clear that the existing situation is such as to require the taking of any additional powers to cover the above- mentioned points; nor is Mr. Eden in a position to say whether any such additional powers could be taken by means of a regulation issued by the Government of Hong Kong or whether action by His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom would be necessary. He is however advised that it would not be incompatible with international law for such powers to be taken in case of need. International law gives countries an absolute right, even in time of peace, to prevent flights over their territory by foreign military aircraft

and