SECRET
1
3
(a) There are occasions when we want to make
a special gesture to the Chinese in order
to build up a favourable political climate
or either to extract or repay a concession
from them Such occasions should be very
few; otherwise we will debase the currency
and exhaust our capacity to give favours.
4.
The practical implications of paragraph 3
are as follows :
(a) Land grants for commercial purposes
There is normally no justification for
favoured treatment; in such cases (in-
cluding requests for additional facilities
connected with oil import and distribution
and hotels) as a general principle the
agency should obtain its facilities through
normal means i.e. through the private sec-
tor and through purchasing Crown land in
open competition. The land authorities
should try to react to requests for land
helpfully by making appropriate sites
available for sale in the normal way, if
possible.
b) Land grants connected with the railway
Here the position is slightly different,
as the freight on the railway is all
Chinese, and handled by Chinese-owned or
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