that all possible steps be taken to prepare for the work of the seconded Foreign Service officer to be taken over by an officer of the Hong Kong Cadet Service at the end of the three year period, or as much sooner as possible if a suitable Foreign Service officer can be made available. On the assumption that a Foreign Service officer will be available for the job in the initial period, we should be disposed to defer consideration of this particular recomenda- tion, for, say, a year, at the end of which time we should have gained some working experience of the arrangements under which the post is filled by a seconded Foreign Service officer.
4. The Governor's third and last recommendation, summarised in sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph 11 is that, in addition to the affording of experience to selected officers of the Hong Kong Cadet Service for the purpose of his second recommendation, other officers both of the Cadet Service and of other Departments shall be enabled and encouraged so far as is possible to establish and maintain contacts with Chinesc as well as British officials in China, particularly in Kwantung. We are in full agreement with this recommendation, and would be inclined to go a little further in the direction of making definite plans, as we feel that individual contacts of this nature may turn out to be just as important in securing our objective as the appointment of a Political Adviser on Chinese Affairs external to the Colony. The great advantage we see is that these contacts will put all administrative and other officers in a better position to take external Chinese factors into full account, as necessary, in
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