Show smugglers set new record on chinese coa coast st violations in three southern ports reported in ten months SHANGHAI chinese customs officials report there were 17 cases ot of smuggling during 10 months in south china ports alone the value of the goods involved Is estimated at more than two million dollars in american money an astronomical sum in chinese cur rency the customs in Kwang tung brov ince handled the largest number of cases with the shanghai office ranking a close second K key e y c centers e nt e r s of this th i s ac activity t i t y are e avi aar ahr three e e la landmarks n d m a r ks in t the h e w white h i m man s attempts to capture the markets of asia each now is a struggling cen ter of international trade the three cities are shanghai wh which has been entirely chinese since the end VA of the war british hong kong and guese macau both hong kong and macau are near the great south china port of canton reports from hong kong fre tell of gun duels between smugglers and customs men cus toms patrol boats are armed with heavy and light machine guns mix smoothly big shot smugglers mix smoothly in the international populations of hong kong macau and shanghai and make contacts while their henchmen do the actual smuggling ling smuggling is not new along the china coast but it has increased notably since the government banned many categories of imports to combat inflation and conserve for eign exchange A number of shanghai business men unable to import legally have turned to the smugglers as a source of supply details of how deals are made and carried out cannot be obtained but interviews with several import era ers here disclose that the price for brin bringing ging prohibited goods from hong kong to shanghai ranges from 10 per cent ad valorem valoree at the own er s risk to as high as 40 per cent with delivery guaranteed some importers see no moral wrong in bringing in certain kinds of prohibited goods illegally not all of the goods smuggled are luxury items like perfumes and cosmetics one said in ma many ny cases urgently needed items are smuggled in items which were so short even in the U S that only re bently have american factories pro deuced enough to export in the meantime the government ax has fallen here and the import of these items are under a quota which falls far short of the country a actual needs therefore they are being smuggled in tor for the benefit of china s industry first bought leg legally ally most smuggled goods are first bought legally in hong kong from foreign suppliers from there they are routed to canton or macau from where they make their way to the wealthy shanghai market with the government tightening up at canton more goods are going by way of macau american business men in shang hai hal are of two minds about seeing their goods arrive this way one said we are in the far east to do business As far as we are con berned we legitimately sold our goods to purchasers in hong kong what happens to the goods after ward and whether or not they are smuggled into into china is none of our concern but another american represent ing a large american firm said this hong kong Is one market china is another we don t like our goods flowing from one market to the other illegally causing price flue tuat ions in either market which we are unable to control and which might react unfavorably toward public reception of our goods when the restrictions are off I 1 but neither benor he a any of the bust busi ness men interviewed could guess when the restrictions are likely to be off |