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Secretary of State.
In Mr. Mayle's minute of
yesterday's date within it is suggested that you might raise with Mr. Bevin, before he leaves for Moscow, the possibility of his there getting United States and Russian reactions to the idea of our making within the near future a statement of our intention to remain in Hong Kong. I send this on at once in case you should wish to speak to Mr. Bevin after the Palestine meeting at 6 p.m. this evening.
I doubt in any case whether the Russians need be brought into this. As regards the United States, it is true that Mr. Bevin, in his letter of the 28th of January (No.82), made some claim for the desirability of
deferring consideration of the Hong Kong problem until we knew what General Marshall's policy vis-a-vis China was going to be. At the same time Mr. Bevin had offered objections which Sir Orme Sargent has since repeated to me in conversation a few days ago deriving from the possible violence of Chinese reaction to any statement.
I hope that you may get a chance to speak to Mr. Bevin in this matter. But if you do, it would, I feel, be unwise to press him hard over
it