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"strike pay, and the result will be communi- "cated privately.
Hongkong should send fully empowered
*delegates, such as the four gentlemen
"originally appointed, for the negotiations."
This note Mr. Ch'an handed to me yesterday morning
and as you will observe it confirms Mr. Lo's
report which was the first enclosure in my secret
despatch of the 6th January.
2.
It so happened that on the same
are
day (6th January) Mr. Sung Tsz-man again visited Hongkong in order to meet the widow of the late
Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Mr. Sun Fo,
hear son, who
passing through this Colony on their way to Canton. Mr. Sung called on Mr. Fletcher at the Secretariat
and afterwards took tea with me privately at Government House, where I had a tête à tête
conversation with him for about three-quarters of
an hour. I showed him the above note, which had
been dictated by Dr. C.C.Ju to Mr. Ch'an King-po
and at his request I gave him a copy of it. He
expressed some surprise at its wording and I am
inclined to believe that he and Dr. C.C.Wu do not
see eye to eye in the matter. I told him that
an agreement between Hongkong and Canton could never
be reached on these lines, for the Hongkong Government could not possibly agree in principle to strike pay and reinstatement, nor could the Hongkong Government ever discuss such terms with
the Strike Committee: still less could the Hongkong
Government negotiate the "Political Terms"
with the Strike Committee. The utmost that the
Hongkong Government was willing to do was to stand
aside