2.
4.
To organise celebrations of October 1 and Chinese New Year and to arrange receptions for visiting officials or sports teams and theatrical troupes from China, the two associations would invariably come together to form an organising committee and refer to the occasion as one by "all circles of overseas Chinese in London (or Britain)."
5.
When the Chinese legation was upgraded and the first Chinese Ambassador, Mr. SUNG Chih-kuang ( 20 ) came to take up office a few years back, a reception was held in his honour. It was suggested by Mr. CHEUNG Kan-chuen (R) (currently President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce) who has always been friendly with both the pro- China and pro-Taiwan camps for business reasons, suggested that I should attend the reception. Whether it was his own idea or that he was asked by the organisers to put out a feeler to see my reaction has never been revealed.
In any
case, that invitation was declined.
6
In the middle of September, Mr. LEE Chi-cheung
章 a restaurateur in Soho rang to say that he had
Ett & In
been asked to make recommendation of people who should be
invited to attend this year's national day celebration party
which would also be a welcoming reception for the new
Ambassador. He would like to invite me and asked if I would agree to go. Knowing that he was the type of person who would tend to take credit for something he did not do, I tried to find out whether the invitation was coming from him personally or the organising committee. He did not know what to say and when I pursued the question further, he said it was his invitation and he extended it because he had thought that I, a person known generally to the Chinese community, should attend such a function. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness and promised to let him know my answer in a few days.
7
The very next day after Lee rang, Mr. TANG Tak-yan (p-1),
德仁 a prominent member of the Chinese Chamber of
Commerce and generally known to be actively associated with the pro-hina camp, rang to apologise. He explained that the invitation was actually that of the organising committee of which both he and Lee were members, but unfortunately Lee had muddled it up. He said that a formal invitation would be
/sent to me
CONFIDENTIAL
1