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Importers, have suffered much in our freedom through the Trade Restrictions of successful Governments. Practically all the goods we handle are subjected to Import Licences and these are extremely difficult to obtain. Our greatest difficulty is to give orders to all the suppliers from whom we require goods.
We are very friendly disposed to your New Zealand Agent Mr. Kelly and for that reason we are taking a lenient view of your attitude in this matter. We would respectfully suggest that under the Communist Regime in China you are shown only one side of the picturc. The fact is that in China you have not got freedom of the Press. You have detained British ships, Italian ships and Russian shins. Your Red Guards have painted Mao slogens all over the top sides of the ships, you have arrested the Captains and crews of these vessels and detained the vessels. We respectfully suggest that this is no way to win friends and influence people throughout the world.
Trade and Commerce are the means whereby we live and whereby you live, and without which no Nation can survive.
The latest incident is reported in our newspaper this morning and we enclose a cutting, showing that China had detained a Russian ship and arrested the Captain and some members of the crew because of their anti-Mao attitude.
If Communist China wants Trade, we would suggest that she will have to drop these foolish antics of detaining vessels that call on her Ports and arresting Officers and Crews who may or may not agree with the political idiology at present dominant in China. But we would suggest that many of your own people are in revolt against the existing Regine, as indicated by the recent riots in Shanghai, Cantong Peking and other parts of China where the workers have been opposed to the Red Guards.
However, enough of Politics. We are business people and are concerned only with Trade and Commerce and we are not one scrap interested in the internal Politics of China, which please
note.
After discussion with your Agent, Mr. Kelly, in which we took strong exception to your comments, we have appreciated the fact that your goods have been quoted to us on a C.I.F. basis, which means that you are responsible for Freight and Insurance. In these circumstances, it is only reasonable that we should leave to you the question of what route or vessels by which the goods are shipped.
We have therefore instructed our Bank to allow trans- shipment at any Port, but we would suggest that by eliminating
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