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NOTE D
Chinese Affairs. There is no Chinese Secretary in Hong K。ng, and ka Forth, who has been in charge of this Department, ia on his way home to the United Kingdom. He has supported Sir Robert Kotowall and his group; and has issued a rather rash statement about ther to the Press; but these people seem to be viewed with general suspicion as having been too collaborationist during the Japanese occupation. A "War Activities Committee has been set up under Colonel Ride to investigate all such people. Meanwhile there is nobody in the Hong Kong Administration who has any knowledge of developments in Free China, and Mr. Keswick has proposed to the Commander-in-Chief that there should be a China consul in the Administration to deal with the Colony's external relations.
hile this is a good idea, I have pointed out that we have no consu at present available. Might it not be possible, ns a temporary expedient, to provide somebody for this job from an organisation such as British Army ad Group, continuously in touch with Chinese affairs within the last few years? If I am right in believing that the opportunity of the Colony in the near future is very great, the importance of a good appointment to this job is obvious; and I think that careful consideration should be given to the secondment of a Chiua Consular Officer for the post as a regular posting for the future. The Commander-in-Chief will doubtless take this up with the Colonial Office.
There is a feeling that Mr. M.I. Lo, a leading Hong Kong solicitor, may be the best representative of the local Chinese, The "War Activities Committee" will no doubt consider his record and there is an idea that he, perhaps accompanied by a second Hong Kong Chinese, might come up to Chungking to make contact with Chinese circles here. If the Hong Kong Administration agree that he should đo đo I have said that I would establish contact in his name with Mr. Wen Yuan-ning, who is a great personal friend, so that his entry into Chungking official circles should not be difficult. We do not of course wish to ebarrass the Administration by pinning their flag for them to Mr. M.K. Lo's mast, but as I met Mr. Lo in Hong Kong, I think it would be all right to arrange some contacts for him on the social level.
Meanwhile the Kuomintang have got moving in the Colony under the guidance of a Mr. Sum, about whose activities there is some disquiet. He has already embarrassed the Administration by organising a series of demonstrations, in honour of General Pan Hwa-kuo, etc., and the Commander-in-Chief has sent General Pan a letter saying: (1) that they would like to be consulted before- hand about such manifestations, (2) that they have no official cognisance of Mr. Sum's position as Kuomintang Representative and (3) that in any case they would prefer to clear all such matters through the Representative of the Chiness Government when that official has arrived, as is normal in international practice. known that Mr. Sum is a Chen Chak man and the Administration wish to keep their lines clear with the Canton Administration. It was therefore felt that farktker further action required to restrain Mr. Sum might be: (a) that Brigadier MacDougall should, during his visit on October 1st and 2nd to Canton, speak to Admiral Chen Chak, and (b) that I might do the same to General Wu To-chen, on the following lincs:-
It is
The Hong Kong Administration have been somewhat embarrassed by the activities of Mr. Sum Chit-son and Mr. Chiu Tsung-me whose positions as Kuomintang Representative and Representative of the Ban Min Chu I Youth respectively have not been notified to them. The Administration feel that the correct procedure will be for them to deal in matters affecting Chinese affairs with the of- ficial Representative of the Chinese Government: that official has not yet shown up and they do not wish to commit him before he arrives in any direction. They believe that Mesars. Sum and Chin are in fact what they claim to be but do not see that they of give them any official recognition; and they wish to establish
their/.