CO129-573-2 Export of torpedo boats to China 14-5-1938 - 5-10-1938 — Page 30

M.03877/38.

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Military Branch.

3rd August, 1938.

Dear Gent,

Will you please refer to Turner's letter M. /38 of the

16th July about the export of motor torpedo boats from this

country to China via Hong Kong.

2.

We

Our objection to allowing the onward carriage of these

boats from Hong Kong in a British ship was the purely practical

one that we considered the Japanese more likely to try to prevent

the arrival of these boats than of other war material.

readily admit that the Board of Trade are right in their state-

ment that the Japanese have shown no evidence of going back on

their undertaking not to interfere with British ships even if

carrying war material. There are however two observations which

Firstly, the boats

we feel bound to make in this connection.

would probably be shipped as deck cargo and would therefore be

easily recognisable. Secondly, while there would, generally

speaking, be no reason to distinguish between these vessels and

other war material, Hague Convention XIII, while expressly

allowing a neutral (Article 7) to permit the export or transit

of arms and munitions of war, definitely imposes on a neutral

(Article 8) the duty of preventing the departure from its

jurisdiction of any vessel intending to cruise or engage in

hostile operations against a belligerent power, which has been

adapted in whole or in part within that jurisdiction for warlike

purposes. It is possible that the Japanese might feel that

this distinction in the Convention would justify them in

regarding these vessels as outside the scope of their

undertaking.

G.E.J. Gent, Esq., D.S.O., 0.B.E., M.C.,

Colonial office,

S.W.1.

3.

With/

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JF.