that they have met with the approval of the French Government.
It is essential that as soon as Mr. Simon's letter has reached you, it should be communicated to your colleagues in the British and Chinese Corporation so that you may inform Mr. Simon as soon as possible that the British and Chinese Corporation have definitely accepted the project and that they agree to put it in hand as soon as the approval of the English Foreign and Colonial Offices has been received. It is important that you should follow this course in order to bind the French group and to prevent their backing out should anything fresh supervene.
Mr. Simon also asked me to ask you whether you do not think it advisable for him to cable through the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the French Consul General at Hongkong instructing him to see Sir Matthew Nathan on the subject. In my opinion, the best plan would be for you to wire the Manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation at Hongkong asking him to explain fully to Sir Matthew Nathan the proposed
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