CO129-585-5 Sino-Japanese conflict- shipping on Pearl River 3-1-1940 - 25-8-1940 — Page 100

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No. 5

Copied to:

H.H•• Shanghai, No. 51

(& copies)

Governor, Hongkong, No. 19

sir,

100

British Consulate-General,

CANTO n

let March, 1940.

with reference to my despatch No. of January 10th regarding Japanese trade at Canton, Inregret that for the reason set out in paragraph o of that despatch I am unable to forward any statistics regaruing this trade at „humpo&. I continue to be supplied with statistics or trade at Canton but as this forms only a minute portion of the total it appears naruly worth while to forward them. In general, however, there are no rounds for believing that Japanese imports have fallen of. in any way, and even if the river is opened in the near future, very little bencfit is likely to accrue to British trade so longaus „ham,oa remains closed. Passenger and coastwise trurlic is of course liable to increase which will benefit the shipping companies, and those of British con,anies which are manufacturing in Shanghai and elsewhere in China, but it will clearly be of no absistance to forei ̧n imports which will be andersold by Japanese 60Jus imported duty free at whampoa.

A further act of potential discrimination against British shipping was the publication of the temporary regulations of the Pearl kiver ilotule Service forwarded to iíis majesty's Ambassador Shanghai undercover of my ues...tch No. 0 of 5th February. By excluding whum,oa fron the trea in which it is necessary t carry pilots, by limiting ships which have to carry pilots to vesels of over 500 tons or d it. aruit, by making pilotage compulsory and by auxing the fees exhorbitant, the Japanese would appear to nave guardeu zainst almost all eventualities. Their so called transports will be uble to load unu uischarge free of any control, Customs or otherwise, ut whungoa, while the tug and lighter service in which they are interested which operates from Canton will therefore presumably at any rate have to pass the Customs, nevertheless by avoiu.ng pilotage fees should be able to compete on very favourable teras with the shipping of thrid power nationals such as ourselves. Fortunately, however, those pilotage regulions have not yet been enforced. Ships are obliged to take pilots, but so far this service has been given Free and it is udnitted by the Japanese that these s0 calleu pilots are more in the nature of supervisors. Some of then are military officers anu naturally can have no knowledge of the river comparable to that of masters w..o have navigated it for years.

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Conditions in the city during the mont. of January Changed very lit.le, but better class Chinese still refuse to return and very little business is being done by anybody. The Japanese Bouus that one sees in the city are almost without exception quite unsuitable for any Chinese market and certainly quite unsuitable for an impoverished city like Canton. These couus conslut largely of such articles as Japanese gramaphone recurus anu granuphones, tinneu ¿00ub

The Commercial Counsellor,

British Embassy,

SHANGHAI.

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