CO129-566-7 J.J. Richards- arrest as Japanese spy by Chinese authorities 13-1-1938 - 12-9-1938 — Page 5

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NX SECRET.

AIR MAIL.

.TOITISVOJ

EIVED

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONG KONG.

5th August, 1938.

15 AUG 1938 C.

5

Sir,

I have the honour to report to you on the activities of Mr. Joseph James Richard a British subject, and to request your approval for refusing to renew his British Passport.

2.

Richard has been known to the Police since

Enclosure No.1 November, 1936, and I enclose a memorandum giving details

See (1)

of all that was known about him up to the end of 1937.

On the 5th December, 1937, he left by train for Shum Chun on the Chinese border accompanied by two Chinese,

a man and a woman, and was arrested there, with his

companions, by Chinese Police who sent him to Canton

under escort. The woman was subsequently released and

returned to Hong Kong to report the matter to the wife of Richard, who informed the Hong Kong Police.

3.

The Consular Authorities in Canton were informed and requested to take appropriate action on behalf of Richard. Steps were taken to secure his release although

not without reluctance since it was felt that the

privilege of extraterritoriality was saving him from

punishment which might not be undeserved. The Consul-

General in Canton, Mr. Blunt, reported the case to the Foreign Office in his savingram dated the 31st December,

Enclosure No. 1937, a copy of which is attached.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

MALCOLM MACDONALD, M.P.,

Copy whowtened to Ronald. It

&c.,

&C.,

&c.

B.

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