CO129-580-1 Sino-Japanese War- handing over of suspected terrorists to Japanese authorities 1-5-1939 - 24-8-1939 — Page 172

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Cypher telegram to Sar A. Clark Kerr (Chungking)

Voreign Cirice, 8th May 1939.

9.30 p.m.

No.94.

14

वर

2

000000000000000000

172

Your telegrams Nos. 18 and 19 Tour of May 1st

Japanese activities in Tientsin concessionj.

anti-

I should expect the Hongkong Government who have already represented the embarrassment caused by internment of Chinese soldiers in the colony, would have strong objection to being

required to receive and intern Chinese arrested in Tientsin.

Moreover the Colonial authorities would have no legal power to

detain Chinese citizens deported from China against whom there

is no valid charge in law. I fear, therefore, that this pro-

posal is impracticable and that the Tientsin question must be

treated as a local problem.

After careful consideration of your views with which I am in general agreement and having regard for the practical dif-

ficulties of the concession authorities, I think that the

solution as regards the existing cases should be to expel the

more serious and release the others with a warning, and that

future cases should be either expelled or handed over to the

de acto authorities according to the seriousness of the offence.

General principle seems to me to be that persons against whom

there is reasonable evidence that their activities are directed

towards.....