Colonial of ice,
The Church House,
Great smith Street,
S. W. 1.
14th November, 1949.
3
You wrote to Higham on the 9th November
enclosing a draft of General Ritchie's lecture to the Royal Central Asian Society and we have since seen a copy of Scott's letter of the 12th November giving Foreign office comments on the draft.
So far as Hong Kong is concerned we share, I am afraid, the doubts of the Porṇign office about the suitability of Goneral Ritchie's lecture for a public audience, not so much because of its content but because it conflicts with our policy of avoiding public statements about Hong Kong which are likely to axacerbate relations with the Chinese Communists.
If, as scott sugresta, the lecture wore to the Imperial Defence College or some similar body it would, we agree, be moet suitable and interesting and our comments would be limited to relatively minor points of emphasis, E. g. we would suggest, in the first sub-paragraph of the Hong Kong section, the omission of the words "as a short term issue" and in the ninth sub-paragraph perhaps the substitution of "obviously presenta difficulty" for "is a somewhat dangerous proposition".
Our South Rest Asia Department tell me that they have no comments of substance on the paragraphs that relate to Malaya. They point out, however, (with
reference
LIEUTENANT COLONEL A.M.FIELD, M.C.