§ 3.32 p.m.
§ LORD SNELLMy Lords, I beg to ask the noble Viscount the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has any statement to make about the "Asama Maru" incident.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (VISCOUNT HALIFAX)My Lords, as your Lordships may be aware, the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs made a statement in the Japanese Diet earlier to-day with regard to the negotiations which have been proceeding between His Majesty's Government and the Japanese Government in connection with the removal of certain Germans from the Japanese steamship "Asama Maru" by one of His Majesty's ships. The correspondence which has passed between the two Governments on this matter will be laid before the House to-night. It has been found upon investigation into the training and antecedents of the twenty-one men removed from this Japanese vessel that some of them are relatively unsuitable for military service and, while reserving all their legal rights, His Majesty's Government are accordingly prepared to release nine of these men who will be handed over to the proper Japanese authorities in due course. Meanwhile the Japanese shipping companies have been instructed that they should in future refuse passage to any individual of a belligerent country who is embodied in the armed forces or is 458 suspected of being so embodied. While His Majesty's Government have maintained their view of the legal position in this matter, it is anticipated that such incidents as that in connection with the "Asama Maru" will be avoided in future.