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A
B
familiant with
4
Lormality that Chinese thought of such an officer as Colonel Purcell or the Malay Service. II such an officer could be found either within or without the Hong Kong Service for the post or Secretary for Chinese Affairs-(the title as it stands see...s appropriate except for its limited association in the past and I doubt whether it is necessary at present to include responsibility for relations with America and other countries, at this stage consideration might be given to point two y Assistant Orlicers under him; one from the ranks of the cadets specialising in domestic problems and the other an expert on Chinese politics who would act as Liaison Officer with the Embassy.
8
If this view is accepted it will no doubt be considered that the mutter should be discussed at an early date with Sir Mark Young.
D. Luk
20.2.46
I entirely agree that something should be done to ensure that officers of the Hong Kong Service are in a position to acquaint themselves fully with the "Chinese scene" on their immediate borders and as far as possible beyond, and are thus able to take external Chinese factors into full account, as necessary, in their daily work.
Whether this can be achieved, either wholly or in part, by some sort of external affairs organisation within the Hong Kong Service, either on the lines suggested by Mr. Keswick, or on those suggested by the Foreign Office, is a matter which would certainly have to be considered in Hong Kong in the first place. I should be in favour of asking the Governor to consider this question as soon as possible after his return to Hong Kong. In the meantime the temporary arrangements which have been made for carrying out the duties of Secretary for Chinese Affairs could no doubt be continued.
My own tentative views are that the objective is more likely to be gained by encouraging individual officers in all Departments of the Service to make and maintain contacts with the Chinese on the mainland, and possibly
89 so far
as to make a knowledge of China and its inhabitants a condition of promotion. I fear that the setting up of a Secretariat for External Affairs will not necessarily have the desired effect. On the contrary, it may discourage individual officers from taking any action to acquaint themselves with external Chinese affairs.
I would suggest that the whole question should be remitted to Sir Mark Young for his views, with the suggestion that he might prefer to defer consideration until he returns to Hong Kong, in which case, we will, of course, arrange for a suitable despatch on the subject to be sent to Hong Kong to reach there as soon as possible after his arrival. I suggest that we might perhaps comment
in