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NOTE C.
ö7
Shipping.
The most immediate constructive job in Hong Kong is to get the port going again. Dock facilities will be a long time in the repair stage but jetties are open and loading and unloading is going on. What is lacking is ships and the certainty that when these arrive they can get moving in normal trade. Here of course we are up against a major problem with nationalistic China and it is a problem which must, in my view, be tackled forthwith. I telegraphed to Your Excellency about the "Fat Shan" going to Canton and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been approached. There is the case of the "Rose" which has been held by the Chinese at Kwangchowwan, whither she had gone to collect a cargo of foodstuffs: and there may be more problems at other Chinese ports. Leaving out for the moment the nettle of sabotage, which has, however, got to be grasped soon, Hong Kong cannot get ahead unless the Chinese can be persuaded to adopt a rational line at once 1.e. before the British companies can parade themselves in quasi-Chinese clothes and before a Commercial Treaty can possibly be concluded - in regard to normal visits of foreign ships. At present Chiang Kai-shek's jealousy about our warships going to Chinese ports is a stumbling-block because it seems to be having repercussions in the merchant ship field. Admiral Chen Shao-kwan has asked for British help over mine-sweeping but this seems to have stalled: and there has been no reply about the Fatshan. Meanwhile Hong Kong is expecting coasters to arrive during this month.
I suggest that this be taken up with Dr.T. V. Soong as a matter of great urgency.
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