2.
(conta)
(b)
(c)
(a)
(e)
(£)
CONFIDENTIAL
2
Special Branch records are filed by C C C numbers. The extremely useful 3-way code book which they issue, but do not make
available publicly, uses Wade Giles for the romanization of characters in their Mandarin pronunciation.. The code book does not include simplified characters;
the US Consulate-General have told me that they will probably be opening a new Pin Yin biographical filing system if they can find a room to put it in;
it will be interesting to see how the new romanization affects the current campaign to improve the status of the Chinese language in Hong Kong, At present this campaign has not brushed up against difficulties caused by competing political allegiances and is, of course, primarily concerned with the written language and oral use of Cantonese by Government Departments. (We shall try to get some feed-
back from the US Consulate-General on how Taiwan intends to react to the changes, although this is not likely to be a particularly significant factor);
visa applications from Taiwan will no doubt continue to be filled in by the applicants in Wade Giles; and
presumably, the UN and its specialised agencies will do whatever the Chinese ask them to. We shall all probably have to get used to seeing, at best, the formulation "Hong Kong (Xianggang)",
CC
R R Garside Esq Peking
J P Millington Esq Washington
A O Blishen Esq OBE Tokyo
J Thompson Esq MBE
H K & G D, F C O
RF Wye Esq
Research Dept, F C O
(I C Orr)
M & V Dept
F CO
PUS D, F CO
KC Walker Esq Assessments Staff Cabinet Office
no o D of I (Mr Murphy)
CONFIDENTIAL
DS I (Mr Wiggham)
DS B
(Mr Haigh)