(F 9901/120/10)
FOREIGN OFFICE, S.W.1.
20th October, 1938.
54
Bear Rochie
I am sorry to have left so long unanswered your letter
of the 24th August regarding Dr. Lim's appeal for assistance
in the treatment of Chinese wounded.
The fact is that the letter reached us in the middle
of the European crisis, when it appeared likely that we
should want all our financial and other resources for our
own needs, and it was clearly useless to take up with anyone the question of supplementing the deficiencies in the Chinese
Army Medical Service. Even now that the immediate danger is
past, the calls on private generosity in connexion with the Czechs, whose fate by their proximity makes a more potent appeal to people in this country, must have the effect of diverting
contributions which might otherwise have been available for
humanitarian purposes in China.
The obvious people to undertake the task seem to be the
Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, K.C.M.G.,
British Embassy,
Shanghai.
British