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contravers the principles agreed upon at Canton by including
the words "Appointed by the Canton Government", which do
not occur in the English version, which (if added) would
make the appointment purely political, give the Canton Government full authority to appoint, and ignore any question
of approval from Hong Kong. The words would also cause great
offence to the Peking Government and would affirm the division
of China into regional governments in a manner not yet recognised by His Majesty's Government, nor (as I understand
from a recent speech of Mr. Chu) desired by Canton.
A.
I wish to have it quite clearly understood that
I cannot agree to anything in the nature of a political
appointment, but that I am prepared to go to the length
of affording the Cantan Government an opportunity of nomina-
ting for consideration a gentleman whose interests will be entirely commercial and whose position would be properly
described by the title
Any further concession would suggest participation by the
Hong Kong Government in the political struggles of China:
a position into which it is quite impossible for me to allow
myself to be drawn.
5. I have therefore to ask you to be good enough
to request the Canton Authorities in the first place to
agree to the Chinese version of the title of the Com-
mercial Agent as I have set it out, and to nominate on behalf of the Canton Government a gentleman of known commercial ability whose appointment I should be justified in approving
on commercial ground alone, and against whose appointment
no objection could be sustained by reason of his political
sympathies. The unsatisfactory nature of the present
position
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