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(b) "that he would not be a party to any attempt to
invade British sovereignty in this Colony".
Sir Geoffrey Northcote saw the business of any Chinese Consular Official as relating to matters which concerned issues between the Governments of China and Hong Kong. Any such official would have to accept that the Chinese members of the Hong Kong Councils were the representatives of the local Chinese population.
9. The Foreign Office proposed putting the provisos contained in the Governor's letter privately to the Chinese and seeking a formal exchange of notes which would make no mention of the provisos. In reply to the British approach, (made in September 1941), the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that he wished it clearly understood that HMG's conditions would not be interpreted so as to debar the Consul-General from performing the normal functions of a consular representative. The Chinese Government had by September 1941 nominated a Consul-General, Han Lih-wu, director of the Office of the Board of Trustees of the British portion of the Boxer Indemnity Fund.
10.
The Chinese reaction to HMG's conditions prompted an examination of our own consular practice and a reconsideration of our approach to the Chinese request. In particular it was felt that in view of the treaty rights enjoyed by HM Consuls in China to communicate with the highest provincial authorities in China on matters affecting British interests, it would be inadvisable to insist on unreserved acceptance by the Chinese authorities of the first of the two conditions. Accordingly, HM Ambassador in Chungking was instructed on 10 December 1941 to tell the Chinese Ministry for Foreign Affairs that the proposed Chinese Consul-General would be permitted to perform all the normal functions of a consular representative, provided it was clearly understood that we expected him to conform to the stipulations previously laid down.
11. It is not clear from the files whether this message was conveyed to the Chinese Government. At all events, the Japanese capture of Hong Kong on 25 December 1941 put an end to further negotiations on the issue.
Re-opening of the issue in 1945
12. Official correspondence makes it clear that the initiative in 1945 to re-open the issue of a Chinese Consular Official in Hong Kong came from the British side. The Foreign Office was anxious to secure Chinese agreement to the re-opening of British consulates in China after the war and saw it in British interests to allow the establishment of a Chinese consulate in Hong Kong at the same time as the re-opening of the US consulate there. An early suggestion, emanating from the officer administering the Government of Hong Kong at the time, was that HMG consider inviting the Chinese Government to accredit a liaison officer to Hong Kong "pending consideration of the appointment of a
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