ENG-1955 — Page 37

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

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sabotage, no attempt would be spared to bring the criminals to justice. Intensive enquiries were made locally by the Hong Kong Police, while a Committee of Enquiry appointed by the Indonesian Government, with the participation of the Governments of India and Hong Kong, established beyond reasonable doubt that the crash was in fact the direct result of an act of sabotage evidently com- mitted in Hong Kong. The Commissioner of Police offered a reward of $100,000 to anyone producing evidence that would lead to the discovery of those responsible, but the reward, the highest ever offered in the Colony's history, was in the outcome not required. By 18 May continu- ing police investigation had led to a point where suspicion fell clearly on a man who had been employed as a cleaner on the aircraft during its servicing at Kai Tak. Enquiries at his address on that day failed to find him, and information was subsequently obtained that some hours before these enquires were made he had stowed away in a Civil Air Transport plane and arrived on the same day in Taiwan. This produced a period of delay until 3 September, when a warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge of conspiracy to murder.

As soon as the warrant was issued, an approach was made to the Chinese Nationalist authorities in Taiwan, requesting that the man be returned to the Colony for trial. After repeated reminders, the British Consul at Tamsui was informed, on 14 December, that the competent Nationalist authorities were unable to deal with the matter, since, it was stated, the request for extradition was not based on legal grounds. Despite continued investigation in Hong Kong, it did not prove possible by the end of the year to bring charges against any other people who may have participated in the crime. The full text of a statement issued by the Colonial Office in London on 11 January 1956 is reproduced in Appendix I.

In addition to individual travellers going to China, either from Hong Kong itself, or in transit through the Colony, a large number of delegations from many countries passed through on their way to or from official visits at the invitation of the Chinese Government.

Most of the Americans released from imprisonment in China, or granted exit permits under the Sino-American agreement made for the reciprocal repatriation of each others'