In order to restrict further the flow of strategic goods to China
and as an additional measure of control, a statutory order (titled
the Control of Trade by Sea (China and North Korea) Order, 1953) was
made on March 13, 1953, pursuant to which the Ministry of Transport
and Civil Aviation is empowered to control all shipping to China and
North Korea. In essence, the order applies to all British ships having
a gross tonnage of 500 tons, limits the type of trade in which the
ships may engage and the voyages which may be undertaken, affects the
class of cargo or passengers which may be carried, and imposes certain
conditions on the hiring of ships. Approximately a hundred items are
listed in a schedule which is an integral part of the license issued
under the order in question. These items are banned from carriage to
China in British flag vessels.
While formal shipping controls were not adopted until March 17, 1953,
British shipping circles were kept under fairly close scrutiny by the
Government ever since the adoption on May 18, 1951, by the Additional
Measures Committee of the United Nations of the resolution to apply
economic sanctions against China as a result of her aggressive
intervention in Korea.
Complementary controls over the bunkering of vessels carrying strategic
cargo (as defined in the Shipping Control Order) to China were adopted
at the same time that the order affecting shipping became operative.
These controls are administered by the Ministry of Fuel and Power on an
informal basis, in cooperation with British oil companies which deny
bunkers to ships carrying strategic cargo to China.