CO129-571-15 Sino-Japanese War- manufacture and import of aircraft to China 18-1-1938 - 5-1-1939 — Page 19

19

19. F0-F1708/298/10

14 anod

24-2-38

Agrees

that

assembly of ambulance flames

should be sanctioned, but not of passenger plants

I have spoken to Lieutenant-Commander

Wigglesworth.

sandicumy

ground that

The Foreign Office agree that

ambulance aircraft may be assembled at Hong

Kong and delivered to China, but consider

that the assembly of passenger aircraft should

not be sanctioned "as it is virtually impossible

to ensure that they shall not be used for

I understand that the military purposes".

Air Ministry agree with this view and are writing to us accordingly. I presume that

in view of this, we can only telegraph such

a decision in reply to the Governor's

telegram (No. 13), and I attach a draft for

conson. accordingly.

If I may be permitted

Chr

the remark, however, I am not quite clear as

to the Foreign Office line of reasoning

the the assembly of ambulance aircraft, but not of passenger aircraft

text it is virtually impossible to

ensure that passenger aircraft shall not be

used for military purposes, as I understand

from Lieutenant-Commander Wigglesworth that

there is practically no difference between the military purposes for which either ambulance

or passenger aircraft can be used. distinction is purely a political one, and

the assembly of passenger aircraft in Hong Kong is presumably considered to be more

"provocative" to the Japanese Government.

The

In view of this decision, I suggest

that it is now scarcely worth while discussing

the project for setting up a factory in Hong

Kong as set out in (18), at an inter-

departmental conference.

If neither civil

nor