3
(757
14 25
England it is considered desirable to facilitate, the grant
of certificates of identity seems to be the best solution of
the difficulty. I trust that with this explanation before
them the authorities of the Home Office will agree to accept
these certificates in future.
I take this opportunity of referring to my telegram of the 12th of January in which I have asked that four Chinese students to whom identification certificates
had already been issued before the receipt of your despatch 4664 No.392 of the 8th of December should be granted admittance
to England,
14
These young men are of the type whose going
to England it is most desirable to encourage (one of them, as stated in my telegram, is a son of Liang Shi-yi: another is the son of a former Chinese Minister in London), and as they had already made all their arrangements for sailing on the 13th of January I did not think it desirable to delay their departure pending a reply to my telegram. I would suggest that in future similar cases where this Government is satisfied of the desirability of allowing particular students to proceed to England, the present practice of issuing identification certificates should be allowed to continue, and that the Home Office should be asked to accept these documents in lieu of regular passports, even if they are not prepared to do so in other cases, and to arrange that the holders should be freed as far as possible from
irksome restrictions.
6.
I submit that it is in the interests both of British trade and of friendly relations between Great Britain and China that suitable Chinese students should be encouraged to go to England for their education,
But if arrangements are not made to facilitate their entry into and residence in England the flow which
seems