PARAPHRASE TELEGRAM from the Secretary of State for the
Colonies to the Governor of Hong Kong,
(Sent 7.50 p.m. 4th August, 1926.)
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Secret.
Centon negotiations.
I note the conclusion in your telegram of the 26th July that taking Hong Kong considerations only into account there are greater dangers in accepting than in refusing proposed commission of enquiry. I fully agree with this view but from a broader standpoint it seems to us that a policy of refusal would have serious disadvantages. It would not be easy notwithstanding the lapse of time to prove in public that the proposal for an impartial enquiry was impracticable or unreasonable and if we rejected the proposal we should find it difficult to justify our attitude both in Parliament and abroad while at the same
time providing agitators at home and anti-British
propagandists generally with further ammunition.
We have considered the alternative of waiting for some
time before answering Canton. We feel however that this
might weaken our position since we could not very well
refuse an enquiry after some months interval on grounds
which would have been obvious when the proposal was original –
ly put forward, and the probability is that we should be committed in the end to acceptance while losing the tactical advantage of accepting at once without reluctance rather than after appreciable delay.
We have also considered your counter-proposals.
De jure recognition of the Canton Government would however be inconsistent with the Washington Treaty, thus necessitating prior consultation with the Signatory Powers,
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