Enclorure Me 2.
خندا
searching of heart among the members of the Canton Council of Government, who discussed the matter for three hours and then drafted an evasive answer which Mr. Wong Tsing-wai actually sent to me by the hand of Dr. To. I attach a translation of this letter. It was only at the eleventh hour, after the first letter had been delivered to Dr. To, that the Canton Council of Government, or a portion of it, reconsidered its earlier decision and sent me by the hand of Mr. Sung Tsz-man the letter which forms the 8th enclosure in my secret despatch of the 23rd December. Later events seem to show that Dr. C.C. #u was probably opposed to Mr. Sung's visit to Hongkong he had himself previously refused an invitation to pay me a visit ( vide enclosure No.4 in my secret despatch of 23rd December); but he was probably at that time overruled by Mr. Wong Tsing-wai, Mr. Sung Tsz-man and others. During Mr. Fletcher's visit to Canton, Dr. C.C.Wu appears to have acted a part and to have concealed his real hostility to Hongkong; but he has now plainly shown his enmity and this time his
colleagues seem to have let him have his way. The reasons for this change can at present only be a matter of conjecture: but I may draw attention to two new facts which perhaps have a bearing on the situation. The first is the impending transfer of
Mr. Fletcher to Ceylon, the news of which became
public very shortly after his return from Canton.
When Mr. Fletcher has left Hongkong, it will be more
easy for the Canton Officials to repudiate the
conversations which passed between him and them.
The second fact is the return of General Cheung Kai-
shek to Canton on the 1st January. Cheung Kai-shek
has