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CONFIDENTIAL
9. British Council activities in China.
Early in 1945.
Professor E.R. Dodus, Regius Professor of Greek at
Oxford, and Dr. Joseph Needham, Reader in Biochemistry at Cambridge, went out at the invitation of the British
Council to establish contact with the Chinese
Universities.
As a result of their recommendations a
Cultural Scientific Office was set up in Chungking
under Dr. Noodham and the Council sent by air to China
scientific supplics, microfilms, periodicals etc.
At the beginning of 1945 a normal Council organisation
was sot up under Professor Roxby, of Liverpool
University, as Chiof Representativo.
When the
Japanese war onded ho moved his headquarters to Nanking
and started work in liberated China.
In February
1947, ho died as the rosult of heart trouble, and
Mr. C.P. Fitzgerald, a well known sinologist and
author of a popular short Cultural History of China,
bocamo Acting Representativo.
Faced with the necessity of having to cover an
cnormous area with limited resources the Council have
been forced to close their office in Chungking and to
leave South China to be looked after by the Information
Officer at Canton. The present policy is to
concontrato as far as possible on the important
university centre of Peking (where suitable
accommodation is available) and Shanghai (which is tho great distribution and travel centro), leaving only a small staff at Nanking (whore accommodation is prohibitively expensive) to maintain liaison with the
Chinose/
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