SECRET
Chinese diplomatic representative in Hong Kong.
*.
The issue of an official repre-
57
4. Historical background, pre-1949
sentative of China in Hong Kong has a long history. It was first raised
as early as 1869 but was then resolutely opposed by the local mercantile
community and the request was refused. In the autumn of 1940 the subject
was taken up by the Chinese Nationalist Government and, with the agreement
of the Government of Hong Kong, Britain conditionally agreed to the
appointment of such a representative. It is not clear whether the
official title of such a representative was agreed and further progress
was in any case prevented by the outbreak of war with Japan. At the time
of negotiating the re-opening of major British consular posts in China in
1945, the offer to accept the appointment of a Chinese representative in
Hong Kong was renewed. In the event, a Mr T W Kwok [in Mandarin, Guo
Dehua (Kuo Teh-hua)] was nominated by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs as "Special Commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs". He was concurrently "Special Delegate of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs in Guangdong (Kwang tung) and Guangxi (Kwangsi)" and kept
an address at the Office of Special Commissioner for Guangdong and
Guangxi, Hong Kong Bank Building, Hong Kong. Although Mr Kwok duly
arrived in November 1945 he does not appear to have presented any creden-
tials, nor does it seem that any official intimation of his designation
even reached the Hong Kong Government. By the end of 1949, with a new
Chinese régime firmly in power, Mr Kwok seems to have quietly faded away.
5. The first CPG request, 1956-1958
The question of Chinese official
representation in Hong Kong was formally raised by the CPG on 25 February
1956 when a Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs informed the British Chargé
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/d'Affaires