168
of this kind between the Colonial Government and the Canton
authorities.
Kr. Jamieson replied that he was absolutely ignor-
ant of the interviews and the correspondence which resulted
therefrom until he read in the Chinese and foreign preas that
they had taken place and that an arrangement had been made.
He explained that he had been placed in a position of extreme
embarrassment in his relations with the Chinese authorities
as also with his foreign colleagues.
Equally with myself,
Mr. Jamieson was unaware of any precedents for such an t-
usual procedure and he added that it was only in deference
to the injunctions which I had given him to cultivate friendly
relations with the Hongkong Government that he had refrained
from making an official protest and had confined himself to
a strong private remonstrance.
The question of direct communication between the
Colonial authorities of Hongkong and the Chinese authorities
on the mainland is not a new one, but it has never, so far as
goes
my experience, been raised in a manner so gravely affecting
the principles which underlie our relations with China as on
the