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recommended and, as you know, Admiral Harcourt,
who was in charge when the Colony was under
military administration, in a speech which he made
on the occasion of the conferment of emergency
medical degrees, stated that Generalissimo Chiang
Kai Shek had personally expressed his interest in
the re-establishment of the University.
With these indications of present Chinese
opinion, it seems to me that the case for a
University in Hong Kong capable of catering for
Chinese students from outside the Colony as well as
covering the needs of the Colony itself is as
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strong if not stronger, than, it was in 1939, when,
I think it is fair to say, we were prevented from
taking steps in that direction only by the
outbreak of the war. I feel, therefore, that we
ought to accept the Committee's main recommendation.
This will, of course, involve assistance from
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United Kingdom funds and I suggest that we should
make a joint approach to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer with a view to the acceptance by the
Government of this recommendation and the
financial assistance from United Kingdom funds
which it involves.
There is some pressure in Hong Kong for an
immediate re-opening of the University, but I feel
that when it is re-opened, we ought to have a
clear decision on future policy and I have,
therefore, sugested to the Governor that the
re-opening should be deferred until the beginning
of next year in the hope that we shall have
reached a decision by then. This delay in the
re-opening of the University, however, does give
rise to difficulties and complications and might
be