Hong Kong. Remarking that the CPG was "more moderate" than Jiang Jieshi
(Chiang Kai-shek) Zhou said that when the Nationalist leader was in power
"he declared that the Chinese Governor of Guangzhou was also his repre-
sentative for Hong Kong. This was as good as claiming that Hong Kong came
under his jurisdiction.
All we ask for is an official representative in
Hong Kong. Many of our people live there and need our help". In October
Zhou again raised the subject during the visit of Mr Erroll, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary at the Board of Trade. On 29 October "Zhou re-iterated the
request for a Chinese representative in Hong Kong, "just as the British
kept a man in Shanghai". Do
D
C
8.
On 25 February 1958 Zhou Enlai again took up the question when
Mr Harold Wilson was paying an unofficial visit to Peking. "Isn't it
ridiculous?" said Zhou, that China was represented in Hong Kong only by the
reporters of NCNA. He recalled his conversation on the subject with the
Governor of Hong Kong in 1955 and once again used the presence of British
diplomatic officers in Shanghai to support the argument for CPG representa-
tion in Hong Kong. However, Zhou seemed to be arguing for a reply to
Chinese requests, rather than suggesting a specific parallel.
9.
The reply was duly delivered on 27 February 1958 when the Secretary
of State (Mr Selwyn Lloyd) spoke to the Chinese Chargé d'Affaires in London
In the course of a lengthy exchange in which the Secretary of State covered
a number of points on Sino-British relations and on general international
issues, he told Huan Xiang (Huan Hsiang) that the British Government could
not agree to the appointment of a Chinese official representative in Hong
Kong in the present climate of relations. The Aide Mémoire, handed to
Iluan, gave as the reason "Her Majesty's Government have reluctantly come
to the conclusion that the Chinese Government are not at present prepared
to acknowledge the legitimate point of view of the Hong Kong Government
/so
SECRET
.........