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3. We have a heavy responsibility in respect of
Hongkong towards all nations interested in the stability
and welfare of the Far East. The position of Hongkong as
a great centre of population and a focus of shipping,
commercial, and other activities, give it a special rôle
in the furtherance of these objects, which may be even more
important in the coming period of reconstruction than
in the past. We therefore regard it as a national duty
not only to recover the Colony but to restore it to its
state of order and prosperity.
These are the two aims on which we have at present to
concentrate our attention: recovery and rehabilitation.
(Spd.) H. Prideaux-Brune
Foreign Office,
31st March 1945.