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CVII.
94
The meeting passed a resolution that telegrams, of the
B
see above be sent to leaders in
exact wording as that sent to various parliamentarians by
Mr. Tan Kah Kee,
Great Britain. The choice of recipients of the telegrams
was left to the discretion of Mr. Tan Kah Kee and his legal
advisers. (Note: The legal work of the Singapore China
Relief Fund Committee is done by Mr. Richard Chuan Hoe Lim, a Penang-born barrister and a member of the Singapore
Municipal Commission.)
On the 26th July, the Union Times published a telegram
received by the Singapore Chinese Consulate-General from
the Chinese Foreign Ministry stating that, as a signatory
of the Nine-Power Treaty, Britain would abide by the
international code by upholding right and would not
surrender to might. Overseas Chinese should not believe
the malicious propaganda issued by the Japanese militarists and should do their best to promote friendly relations
with other countries.
Meetings of Chinese representatives of public bodies were
held in the principal towns throughout Malaya, in Penang
on the 26th, in Kuala Lumpur and Malacca on the 27th,
and in Ipoh on the 30th. The Negri Sembilan China Relief
Fund Committee proposed to call a similar meeting on the 30th July but the proposal was dropped when the contents
of the telegram from the Chinese Foreign Office to the
Chinese Consul-General became known,
The Penang meeting decided to send four telegrams; one to Chiang Kai Shek, one to Mr. Chamberlain, the third to the
China Campaign Movement in London and the fourth to the
leading London newspapers. The last three were sent
through the Chinese Ambassador in London. The texts of
the telegrams were as follows:-