TNAG-0840-FCO40-1049-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China-1979 — Page 8

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well, strongly recommending to two a, who were on the board of C.N.A.C., en to Formosa, since most probably soon be giving de jure recognition to hen we should have no option but to hinese government should they claim . The two vice-presidents would not st place the civil airfields in Formosa this was nonsense because that is secondly that if they did take them Peking, and Pan American was hoping

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in recognized the new government, The American interests also requested them. To this we replied that, since issue as to ownership would have to on proceeded accordingly: the best h sides. In addition, the Americans es, the most proming of whom was onevan', who had neen the war-time rategic Services), the American qui- Secret Operations Executive), whose enemy's effort. He came to see me, phorically if not physically, insisted te him without further ado, for, he United States Britain would have lost if I did not do as he demanded he the authorities in London. I remained e settled in the courts. Donovan's ssed nor offended me. No doubt he er occasions, so thought he might as the same tactics with the Attorney-

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details of the court case, or rather to court on appeal. Finally it became side of the Chinese government, and The State Department, which by this the 'China lobby', now took a hand, t on no account should the planes be tish

government was in a dilemma. law, and Britain had always upheld e did not want to offend Washington.

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The British have always been realistic, but if they do a thing of which they have reason to be ashamed, they like to wrap it up in a legal covering. So an Order-in-Council was made, which overrode the law as it stood and in effect made a new law, which would inevitably pass the planes to the Americans. And that is what happened. Who was I, a mere governor of a colonial dependency, to complain, and what good would it have done if I had? None the less I felt unhappy: altogether a sorry business.

An incident similar to the aircraft case arose over the oil tanker Yung Hao. This vessel had been sunk off Formosa during the war and subsequently salvaged. It was now Chinese-owned, and was being repaired at the Kowloon Dockyard in Hong Kong. One day this was during the Korean War-the American Consul-General came to me and said the State Department was anxious that the Chinese Government should not get hold of the ship, as it would assist them in their war effort. I told him I would make 'nquiries and let him know the result. The result of my enquiries was that the vessel was Chinese government property, that even when repired it was unlikely to be of any use, and that I doubted if i had legal powers enabling me to hold it. Once again the State Department brought pressure to bear on the British government, and an argu- mentative correspondence ensued between the Colonial Office and myself. I pointed out that if we tried to requisition the ship, those of our officers who attempted to do so would be resisted by force by the communist crew, that serious trouble would result, and that Peking would retaliate against the Colony. But London was adamant; evidently it was more scared of what the United States might do to Britain, than of what China might do to Hong Kong.

We therefore duly requisitioned the Yung Hao. I was not so dubious of the legality of this action as I had been in the case of the airplanes. I was more apprehensive of the retaliatory action that the Chinese might take, especially if there were bloodshed during the operation. Fortunately there was none. Steel-helmeted police in overwhelming force swamped any possibility of resistance. As for retaliation, the worst that happened was that the properties of the Shell Company in China were taken over by the Chinese government: and that was no concern of ours. I heaved a sigh of relief when early one morning I saw the Yung Hao being towed out of the harbour on her way to Singapore, where she has, so far as I know, remained ever since, beyond repair. No doubt, one day, Peking will present to London a bill for the vessel. The innocent sufferer, apart from the Shell Company, for this misguided proceeding was the Kowloon