3 FEBRUARY 1921 Letter from Foreign Office, London, to the Secretary to the Post Office. Sir I am directed by Earl Curzon of Kedleston to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 5668/21 of January 22nd regarding the transport of postal matter by aircraft entering and leaving Chinese territory. Lord Curzon appreciates the reasons which underlie the suggestion to reserve the right of such transmission between the British postal agencies and China, but he much doubts whether the moment is opportune to make any such reservation with the Chinese Government which would certainly resent it as an encroachment on Chinese sovereign rights. As the Postmaster General is aware, the establishment of foreign postal agencies in China rests on no specific treaty right but is justified upon the grounds of the extraterritorial status of foreign nationals in China. And as Mr.Illingworth will remember, His Majesty’s Government are not indisposed to consider favourably an eventual proposal for their abolition upon the fulfilment of certain specified conditions. It seems therefore of doubtful wisdom to provoke any discussion with the Chinese Government in present circumstances. Should the right to aerial transmission of postal matter ever be established by any other Government, His Majesty’s Government could claim a similar right under the most-favoured-nation clause. Copies of this correspondence will however be forwarded to His Majesty’s Minister at Peking, to whose discretion it will be left whether or not to bring the matter up with the Chinese Government. I am, Sir, Your most obedient, humble Servant.
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