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port for the purpose of supervising the general Customs administration. The ports concerned were Lungchingtsun, Antung, Newchwang and Harbin, together with some sub-stations, at which the revenue collected in 1931 amounted respectively to Hk. Tis. 574,000, 3,682,000, 3,792,000, and 5,272,000. The port of Aigun, which is still outside the sphere of control of the "Manchukuo Government", is functioning under the Chinese Customs Service. The port of Dairen, in the Kwantung Leased Territory, has a distinct status. The fact that the Customs revenue collected in the Manchurian ports, including Dairen, amounted in 1930 to 14.7 per cent and in 1931 to 13.5 per cent of the total for all China shows the importance of Manchuria in the Chinese Customs Administration.
The procedure by which the "Manchukuo" authorities took over the entire Customs administration in Manchuria is well illustrated by the action taken at Antung, which has been described as follows by the Inspectorate-General of Customs:
The "Government of Manchukuo" took over the Customs Administration and Revenue, March–June 1932.A Japanese Customs Adviser was appointed to the Antung Customs Office in March, but he took no active steps until the middle of June, when he sent definite orders from the "Manchukuo" Ministry of Finance to the Bank of China that Customs funds were no longer to be remitted to Shanghai. On June 16th, four armed "Manchukuo" police, accompanied by the Assistant Superintendent of Police, a Japanese, visited the Bank of China and informed the Manager that they had come to guard the revenue. On June 19th, the Bank of China handed over to the Bank of the Three Eastern Provinces Tls. 783,000, and informed the Commissioner that this action was taken as a result of force majeure.
On June 26th and 27th, a Japanese Adviser of the "Manchukuo Government" demanded that the Customs House at Antung should be handed over to him. The Commissioner refused, but "Manchukuo" police, all Japanese, forced the Commissioner to leave the Customs House. The Commissioner, however, still attempted to carry on the Customs work in his home, since 80 per cent of the Antung Customs revenue is collected in the railway area, hoping that the Japanese authorities would not permit interference within this area. But the "Manchukuo" police entered the Japanese railway zone, arrested a number of Customs staff, intimidated the others, and forced the Commissioner to suspend the Chinese Customs Service.
The Customs situation at Dairen.Until June 7th, the Dairen Customs revenue was remitted to Shanghai at intervals of three or four days, but, under date of June 9th, the "Manchukuo Government" gave notice that these remittances should no longer be made. When no further funds reached Shanghai, the InspectorGeneral of Customs took up the matter by telegraph with the Japanese Commissioner at Dairen. As a result, the Commissioner refused to send on the Customs receipts on the ground that the Chief of the Foreign Section of the Government of the Japanese Leased Territory had advised him that the remittance of the Customs revenue might severely affect Japanese interests. The Inspector-General therefore, on June 24th, dismissed the Dairen Commissioner for insubordination.
The "Manchukuo Government", on June 27th, appointed the dismissed Commissioner and the members of his staff as "Manchukuo" officials, to serve in their former positions. It had threatened to establish anew Customs House at Wafangtien, on the frontier of the Leased Territory, if the Japanese authorities should prevent them from taking charge of the Dairen Customs. The Japanese authorities of the Leased Territory did not oppose the passing of the Customs administration into the hands of the newly appointed "Manchukuo" officials. They maintained that the problem did not concern Japan, but was an issue solely between "Manchukuo" on the one hand and the Government of China and its Dairen Commissioner on the other.
