V.A.
Copy.
(F 6729/6729/10).
(Myloppe)
FOREIGN OFFICE, S.W.1.
13th July, 1938.
21
39
i
Dear Gent,
10
We have been considering carefully your
letter No. 53909/38 of the 18th June, in which you
suggested that there may be a certain lack of definition
in the policy of His Majesty's Government towards the
present hostilities in China, particularly as
affecting Hong Kong and the conduct of the Colonial
Government.
2. I will not go into the details of the
instances which you gave in your letter because I
think the slight changes of attitude which they show
will become understandable in the light of the general
policy which we are trying to follow.
3
Generally speaking, the policy of His
Majesty's Government is to give as much assistance to
China as may be compatible with the safety of the
Empire as a whole, including Hong Kong, and the
avoidance of actual hostilities, with the Japanese.
Hong Kong, by virtue of its proximity to the war zone,
has sometimes to observe greater caution in its
attitude towards the Japanese than say, Australia or
India. That is one consideration, the geographical
situation of Hong Kong. There is, however, another,
the political situation of other parts of the Empire
at
G. E. J. GENT, ESQ., D. S. O., 0.B.E.