NO.
SECRET
PERSONAL
7e
19
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONG KONG.
August 4th, 1938.
and
201
999
900
Copy to
Leas
1.0.
w.o.
A.N.
admy
22,
Dear N- NacDonald,
I hope that you will not mind my writing again
to you on the subject of my secret letter of June 9th.
I do so because it seems to me a matter of very instant
importance.
In my secret despatch of June 11th I suggested
officially that Great Britain should try to negotiate
with the Chinese Government the sale or a material
extension of the lease of the New Territories. I realize,
of course, that this proposal raises some difficult points
of high policy; nor is it difficult to guess the nature
of some of them.
These are not my concern, however.
My object
in writing is to represent as strongly as I can the risk
We are running of missing our market.
Today, I believe,
the Chinese Government would come in on the deal: once
the present hostilities case that attitude on their part
is much less probable; and if Japan is victorious outright
she might also be able to block it and in another ten
years time China and Japan might and I think very
probably would unite in opposing it.
-
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
MALCOLM MACDONALD, P.., M.P.,
&C.,
&C.,
&C.