17
Copy.
(F4553/26/10)
191 (& 2 copies)
Copied to:
SETTLEMENT OF S.S."FATSHAN" QUESTION.
Foreign Office No.62.
(& 2 copies)
Dip. Mission, Chungking No.24. B.E. Tokyo No.47.
Governor Hongkong No.82,
C. in C. No.35.
Commodore Hongkong No.26.
Sir,
BRITISH CONSULATE GENERAL,
CANTON. 30th August, 1940.
In continuation of my despatch No.185 of August 14th, any full report necessary on subsequent developments must await a more convenient season. I am under the impression that any material changes are before Your Excellency and the
All that is now Hongkong Government in subsequent telegrams. necessary is to enclose the documents which form enclosures 1, 2 (under a formal cover which is not sent) and 3 in this despatch which constituted the agreement reached this morning in
In addition my settlement of the S.S. "Fatshan" question. Japanese colleague handed to me by prior agreement (for explanation see paragraph 2 below) the memorandum which forms enclosure 4 in this despatch. It was my original intention to present to him, in the form of a counter-memorandum, the substance of paragraph 2 of my letter to him of today's date, which forms enclosure 5 in this despatch, but I agreed with Mr. Kita that, as agreement on the points involved (which cover various aspects of this shipping problem which have arisen in the course of conversations and, in particular suggestions (d) and (e) contained in Hongkong taegram No.43 of August 24th) could not certainly be reached with the Japanese Naval authorities without controversy, it would be better to treat this communication as the first act in the second stage of this Pilotage controversy (1.e. agreement as to pilotage rates and smoother future relations generally) rather than as a final controversial document in connection with the release of the s.s."Fatshan". While our case regarding the s.s."Fatshan" on paper looks worse in consequence, I hope that this method of handling this document has Your Excellency's approval. Originally I had added to (d) on paragraph 2 the following words: "..., and consequently Japanese vessels under the Blunt- Okazaki Agreement may be fairly entitled to expect at Hongkong similar treatment in all respects (except as provided in the text of the Agreement) to that accorded to any British vessel or vessels under the same Agreement (except as provided for in the text of the Agreement) at Canton".
The additional words were purposely vague; but they might have been interpreted as a threat which the Hongkong Government might not have felt able or willing to implement. They were drafted prior to receipt of Lieutenant-General Norton's telegram No.43 of August 24th. Incidentally neither Mr. Kita, nor before him Mr. Okazaki, have ever questioned to me the equity of according parallel treatment to the Japanese vessels concerned at Hongkong to
It may be any treatment accorded to British ships here. difficult at this stage to find a formula closing the
His Majesty's Ambassador,
British Embassy,
O.S.K.
Shanghai.
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