HC Deb 12 March 1941 vol 369 cc1256-7
3. Mr. Hannah

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to a seven-point programme prepared by the Peking Anti-British Association operating in the four provinces of Northern China; of what this programme consists; and whether the association has been started by, or supported and encouraged by, the Japanese authorities in the occupied area, either directly or indirectly?

Mr. Butler

Yes, Sir. There has recently been some revival of agitation by the Anti-British Committee in Peking. The programme of the committee includes such activities as warning Chinese landlords to give notice to British tenants, investigating British goods and trade, bringing pressure to bear on those in British employment to leave and an intensification of anti-British propaganda generally. There is no proof that the movement receives the direct support of the Japanese authorities, but anti-British speeches have been made over the Peking central broadcasting station, which is Japanese-controlled. The movement does not appear to have assumed any degree of importance, but further developments will, of course, be closely watched.

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