CO129-571-9 Sino-Japanese War- Canton-Kowloon railway 25-3-1938 - 28-2-1939 — Page 87

In

any further communication this subject, please quote

No. F 11285/10648/10

and address-

not to any person by name

but to-

"

The Under-Secretary of State,”

Foreign Office,

London, S.W.1.

D

FOREIGN OFFICE.

S.W.1.

3rd November, 1938.

86

(13)

(13)

Sir,

in R17 8/11

RECE

2 [4 NOV 1938

C.

With reference to telegrams from His Majesty's

Embassy at Shanghai Nos. 1467 of the 13th October and 1497 of

the 20th October on the subject of the Canton-Kowloon Railway,

copies of which were sent to the Colonial Office under cover

of Foreign Office letters Nos. F 10826/10648/10 of the 15th

October and F 11134/10648/10 of the 25th October, I am directed

tober

by Viscount Halifax to transmit to you herewith, to be laid

before the Secretary of State for the Colonies, a copy of a

further telegram from the Embassy, from which it will be seen

that the British and Chinese Corporation have requested that

the attention of the Japanese Government and, if necessary,

the Chinese Government also should be drawn to the British

rights and interests in this line.

2.

In view of the decision that transit facilities over

this railway will in all probability have to be refused to

the Japanese, Lord Halifax inclines to the view that

representations to the Japanese Government in the sense

suggested by the Corporation would be unlikely to have any

effect, and that it would be preferable to avoid raising this

issue with them. Since, however, as appears from Shanghai

telegram No. 1467, General Chiang Kai-shek has asked to be

informed of the attitude of His Majesty's Government, Lord

The Under-Secretary of State,

Colonial Office.

Halifax