§ 20. Lieut.-Commander FletcherFletcher asked the First Lord of the Admiralty the circumstances under which the British naval authorities at Hong Kong have announced that they will not tolerate Japanese interference with British shipping?
Mr. CooperNo announcement in these terms has been made by the Naval authorities at Hong Kong. Japanese authorities were informed last September that, if a Japanese warship had genuine reason to suspect that a vessel flying the British flag was not entitled to do so, no objection would be taken to Japanese naval officers boarding the ship and examining the certificate of registry for the sole purpose of verifying its nationality, provided an immediate report was made to the British Naval authorities, but that no further interference could be acquiesced in. A reminder of this procedure was recently given by the British Naval authorities in China to the local British 361 shipping firms, following a tendency on the part of the Japanese to go beyond mere verification of flag when dealing wirh British merchant ships.