HC Deb 28 June 1939 vol 349 cc384-7
2. Mr. Mander

asked the Prime Minister whether he will consider the advisability of proposing the immediate summoning of a special meeting of the Council of the League of Nations under Article 11 of the Covenant, in connection with Japanese aggression in the neighbourhood of Tientsin, in view of the international interests involved, the preservation of law and order, and the maintenance of treaty rights?

6. Mr. Arthur Henderson

asked the Prime Minister whether he has any further statement to make on the situation in the Far East?

8. Major-General Sir Alfred Knox

asked the Prime Minister whether he will now demand from the Japanese Government the cancelling of the blockade at Tientsin and an apology for the insults offered to our nationals during the past three weeks?

9 and 10. Captain Sir Derrick Gunston

asked the Prime Minister (1) whether he will give the House any information in regard to the food supplies in the British Concession at Tientsin;

(2) what report he has received of British women subjects being stopped and searched by Japanese outside the British Concession at Tientsin?

12. Mr. Mander

asked the Prime Minister the number of British subjects who have been stripped and searched or otherwise molested at Tientsin during the last month; the number of protests made or other action taken; and what satisfaction has been obtained?

The Prime Minister (Mr. Chamberlain)

I will first deal with the local situation at Tientsin. Arrivals of perishable foodstuffs continue to be spasmodic, only a fraction of the normal reaching the British Concession. The local British authorities are taking active steps to remedy the present deficiency. All British subjects who passed through the barriers since the commencement of the blockade have been subjected to a rigorous search, as I stated in the House on 19th June. The number of instances in which British subjects have been compelled to strip is 15, including one woman, but there do not appear to have been any more such cases during the last day or two.

His Majesty's Ambassador in Tokyo has been for some time in communication with the Japanese Goverment on the position and I am now able to announce that, as a result of an exchange of views which has taken place between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Japanese Government, it has been agreed that conversations shall take place in Tokyo in order to effect a settlement of the various questions relating to present conditions in Tientsin, and that representatives of the local British and Japanese authorities will be invited to Tokyo for the purpose. These conversations which are expected to start forthwith, will relate to the local issues and will be designed to secure that while the neutrality of the Concession shall be maintained, British authority in the Concession shall be preserved intact. In view of these conversations, His Majesty's Government assume that there will be an end of stripping, searching and similar incidents in Tientsin, and they have reason to hope that this will in fact be the case. In the circumstances, His Majesty's Government are not disposed to consider the advisability of referring the dispute to the Council of the League of Nations.

In regard to South China, the Japanese authorities announced military operations for 27th June against the Treaty ports of Wenchow and Foochow. A request was received from the Japanese Consul-General at Shanghai that all third Power vessels, including warships, should leave these ports by noon on 29th June. His Majesty's Consul-Genera] at Shanghai replied pointing out that the right of British vessels to proceed to any port in China remains unaffected, and we consider that the Japanese authorities are consequently not entitled to exercise undue interference with the movements of British ships or avoidably to endanger British lives or property. The situation as regards visits of British merchant shipping to Swatow is still obscure, and negotiations continue between the local British and Japanese authorities.

Mr. Mander

Can the Prime Minister say whether Dr. Goebbels is correct in saying that Tientsin is to be the Munich of the Far East?

Mr. A. Hendersons

Will the conversations which are now to take place in Tokyo be limited to the local issues which arose recently in Tientsin, or will they cover the wider demands that have been put forward by various Japanese spokesmen?

The Prime Minister

I have said in my answer that these conversations will relate to the local issue.

Sir A. Knox

Pending the result of the conversations in Tokyo, will the Prime Minister insist that all interference with British subjects at Tientsin shall cease absolutely now; and will he point out that we have exercised a larger patience in the last fortnight than any other great Power in history?

15. Mr. Noel-Baker

asked the Prime Minister whether His Majesty's Government have yet received any reply from the Japanese Government to their protest concerning the murder of Mr. R. M. Tinkler by Japanese troops at Shanghai?

Mr. Butler

No, Sir. Further instructions have been sent to His Majesty's Ambassador at Tokyo to press for an early reply.

Mr. Noel-Baker

Since this brutal and calculated murder is really only part of the persistent campaign of the Japanese to destroy British influence and trade in China, will the Government consider taking effective measures to deal with the situation, if necessary by stopping Japanese trade in British territories?

Mr. Butler

In this particular case I think we had better wait for the reply to the urgent instructions sent to His Majesty's Ambassador.

Mr. Noel-Baker

Have the Government pressed on the Government in Tokyo that this was a brutal murder, done in cold blood, and that the man was refused medical attention for 15 hours after having been bayoneted thrice, as a result of which he died?

Mr. Butler

All the facts of this deplorable case have been presented in the Note to the Government of Japan.