A
MERTING
COLONIAL OFFICE TO CONSIDER
HELD AT 140
EXTRACT FROM CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT NOTE ON THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF HONG KONG UNIVERSITY
28th July 1939
192
brief
account
yue Sloss gave a
It background of If proposals of to theering Development Committee
The present Chinese Government is more disposed to friendly co-operation with British Universities than has ever been the case before, and has in fact given instructions that representatives of Hong Kong Univer- sity are to be invited to take part with Chinese Universities in all future conferences in China on such subjects as Public Health, etc. This is an entirely new departure, but, in a recent conversation with Mr. Sloss, Chiang Kai-Shek had expressed the hope that whereas in the past Sino-British relations had been almost exclusively of a commercial nature, it was necessary that they should rest on the more durable foundation of å mutual respect for each other's culture and civilisation. Moreover at the present time China is in need of technically trained and equipped men: in a private conversation the Minister of Economic Affairs had recently estimated that China was short of 1,000 engineers for tasks which were immediatay necessary. These engineers were of two types: (a) those competent to plan and execute large-scale undertakings, and (b), the more numerous, those able to maintain the small-scale industries which were to be established in the West and South-West. It was significant that, in spite of the war, industrial development was proceeding at a great pace in the Western and South Western Provinces and that the Chinese Goverment was maintain- ing such a keen interest in matters affecting education. Although China's most pressing need was for engineers, 100 new doctors were required for the Medical Department, and there was also good reason to believe that the Minister of Education would take full advantage of facilities for the training of teachers of English.
In short, therefore, the time was ripe for that
co-operation