of 22nd October, 1946, prior to its publication. We have
naturally agreed to disregard entirely the suggestions in
our telegram to Hong Kong No.959 of the 16th June, but we
shall now have to deal in our open despatch with the
proposal that there should be differentiation as between
non-British Chinese nationals on the one hand, and non- British Europeans and Americans on the other, in regard
to residential qualifications.
E
You will have seen from (a) of our telegram
No.959 of the 16th June that we were proposing an amend- ment to paragraph 37 of Sir Mark Young's despatch on the
subject of the reference to the usual condition regarding
the duration of the term of Leases in the case of the
New Territories, in accordance with the suggestion in the penultimate paragraph of your letter F.5527/376/10 of the
28th April. This amendment will now of course not be made
when to Sir Mark Young's despatch before it is published. personally does not feel that there is any real danger of the original wording of the paragraph in question leading to speculation in the minds of the Chinese that
this reference may connote a provision for a possible
curtailment of the lease of the New Territories.
He
In the
circumstances, we think we can only accept Sir Mark Young's
advice on this point, and I think you will agree with us
that it would probably be undesirable for us to take
up the point in our open despatch, which, as you know,
going to be published.
Y
is
I should mention that we have also agreed to drop the idea of the deletions which we suggested in paragraph 8(1) of our savingram to. Hong Kong No.32 of the 29th April should be made from his despatch No. 145, prior
to its publication. It is now intended that his despatch
exactly
shall be published as he wrote it.
We will let you know if any further substantial amendments arise in the despatch in its present form before it is finally agreed by all concerned and can issue, but
(62)
(32)
(30)
meanwhile