C.O.
REGISTERED No.
54145/46
Fo
DRAFT AND RECORD COPYColonial Office,
Downing Street,
S.W.1.
LETTER SENT
14th JanuaryATE 1947.
DRAFT
MR. Mayle
MR.
MR.
ENCLOSURES
2 copies of. revised draft paper on H.K.
کرنا
To
FURTHER ACTION
Dear Kitson,
TOP SECRET
When you called last Friday to discuss the implications of the recent Foreign Office discussions on the F.3.(0) paper on Hong Kong, I showed you the revised version of that paper which I had prepared as the result of the Committee meeting on the 11th December, and I think that you agreed that insofar as this paper did not discuss the question of our taking the initiative to open negotiations with the Chinese, it was not incompatible with those discussions.
You then asked for my views on the question whether it was necessary for this matter to be pursued by the F..(0) Committee, and I should like to take this opportunity of confirming what I said then, namely, that we think there are still two questions which ought to be submitted for Ministerial consideration as soon as possible. The first is that of a reassuring public statement regarding our intentions in respect of llong Kong. We attach great importance to such a statement being made at the earliest possible date. The second question is the lihe which we should take in the event of the Chinese seeking the discussions contemplated in 1943 concerning the leased area. We feel that there would be some advantage in a Ministerial pronouncement on this question now, so that we should know how we stand in respect of the New Territories, when considering projects involving substantial expenditure in those
G.V. KITSON, ESQ.
* Conclusion
territories
[4264A] Wt. 11439/415 50m. 5/45 C.N.Ld. 748