CO129-580-1 Sino-Japanese War- handing over of suspected terrorists to Japanese authorities 1-5-1939 - 24-8-1939 — Page 175

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If therefore my suggestion about the removal of arrested

persons to Hongkong is not accepted and expulsion is resorted to

I think it should be reserved for the future rather than applied

in present case. I mean that persons concerned should be given

another chance of good behaviour and released with warning that

any future offences will lead to swift and drastic measures.

There can be no doubt about what will be the fate of those

who fall into the hands of Japanese and I feel strongly that if

we proceeded with expulsion now we would be sending to their

death a number of people who in fact do not deserve it.

I am concerned at terms of first part of first paragraph of

Tientsin telegram No. 173 of April 28th to you. That is precisely

what I had in mind when I suggested in my telegram No. 16 Tour

Series of April 17th that if we went too far to meet them Japanese

would end by establishing a kind of terror in the Concession.

That is what Chinese too are afraid of. Japanese were threatening

to try the same methods in Shanghai and we were taking steps to

resist them. I think therefore that any information received

from Japanese should be treated with greatest circumspection and

not acted on unless our authorities are entirely satisfied that it

is bona fide.

May I revert to my suggestion that we should insist on removal

from Tientsin of seven original internees even at the risk of

displeasing Japanese whose object in desiring their retention in Tientsin can be nothing but hope that sooner or later they will get hold of them. Inasmuch as Japanese will get their pound of flesh in the form of would-be bomb-throwers they may prove to be more amenable on this point.