Wt. 29446/552 9/46 50m. S. & S. Ltd.
C. O'.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mayle
Camotery
1/12/46
for fig 20/12.
Permt. U.S. of S.
Parly. U.S. of S.
Secretary of State.
For Mr. Crawley's signature
DRAFT. LETTER.
J. BELCHER, ESQ., M.P.
BOARD OF TRADE.
25
December, 1946.
letter in orig. copy to be made
for record.
Perhaps
would reply you
Fally, Voloy ng non-comom Bally,
have noted hu virus. You have That no doubt Au a walten which the Chinae will raise in the
FURTHER
I return the letter from your
constituent about Hong Kong which you sent
on to Mayhew and which Mayhew passed on to
me.
There have been various Ministerial
pronouncements on our intentions concerning
Hong Kong, the latest of which are quoted in
the attached paper. If any further consider
tion is to be given to this question, it
will, of course, be a matter for Ministers,
and in the circumstances there would not
be much point in sending you any views
which I or the Department concerned in the
Colonial Office might have on the subject.
Without, however, pretending to have gone
into the matter very deeply, I would just
like to mention two points which always
seem to be overlooked by those worthy peopl
who are so anxious that we should give
Hong Kong to China. Firstly, when Hong Kon
was ceded to us over 100 years ago it was
a barren rock, and it is perhaps fair to enquire whether there would be any Chine
national sentiment over Hong Kong if it
be with a bat beside But that until they do we are fifing whead with Bitfing prosperity to the island and to have qu million Chinese who, of
her own
ben
Free/will, lis it.
antiper
remained barren rock. Secondly, there &
upwar
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