THE CHINESE RESTAURANT IN THE HONG KONG SECTION
of the
BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION.
640
During the discussion leading up to participation by Hong Kong in the Exhibition the question of a Restaurant in the Hong Kong Section was raised and the feature became one of the most important in the whole Section.
Enquiries were made of the Colonial Office as to the possibility of running such a Restaurant, especially in view of the fact that the food would be principally Chinese food. The answer was received in a telegram from the Colonial Office dated 27.4.23 in the sentence "Restaurant also permissible"; this was interpreted as including the sale in the Restaurant of alcoholic refreshments, about which Hong Kong had had no reason for doubt, alcohol being a necessary part of entertainment in a Restaurant.
On this understanding, important Hong Kong interests undertook the financing and managing of a Restaurant in the Exhibition and it was only later on that it was found that difficulties stood in the way of a license being issued to the Hong Kong authorities. The want of a licensee destroys the ground on which the Restaurant business was established and would lay the, Hong Kong Government, and consequently the Colonial Office, open to a charge of a breach of faith, as the Chinese who are responsible for the Restaurant it- self fail to understand what the difficulty is or that it is insuperable.
The difficulty would appear to be that a comprehen- sive licence for the Exhibition has been issued to Messrs. Lyons, including the right of a dispensing bar in the Hong Kong Section. Such a bar would tend to cramp the Restaurant itself and would also make it impossible for any profits from alcohol to accrue to the Management.
The matter is of no small importance as the greatest interest was shown in Hong Kong and in Shanghai, and con- sequently elsewhere, in every detail of the Exhibition and all the preparations that were being made for it. suspicions of a breach of faith, such as holds strongly in
Any this matter, is sufficiently serious to justify an official effort to remove,
15.4.24.