§ 105. Mr. Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that the Siam to Burma railway, built largely by Allied prisoner-of-war labour, is being sold to the Siamese Government and the proceeds credited to Japanese Reparations Funds; that this has caused dissatisfaction to ex-prisoners of war; and if he will take steps to see that Japan receives no financial benefit from the sale of this railway.
Mr. McNeilThe portion of the Burma-Siam Railway which lies in Siam has been sold to the Siamese Government for £1,250,000. The equipment used for building this portion consists mainly of equipment looted from Malaya, Burma and the Netherlands East Indies, and the greater portion of the —1,250,000 will consequently be paid to the Governments of these territories. The balance of the proceeds will be paid to the Japanese Reparations Funds. These funds are, however, in no way for the benefit of Japan but solely for the benefit of the Allies, who propose to recoup themselves out of them for some of the damage done to them by Japan.