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7. As reported in 1 the Governor has decided, with the unanimous advice of the Executive Council, not to surrender Shum Wai-yau and has released him from detention. Shum Wai-yau is not only the Editor of the newspaper which had and has the largest circulation the vernacular press and which is the only one which be counted on to support the Government but he is also a member of the Democratic League. Several responsible people, including the Colonial Secretary, have expressed to me the view that the demand for Mr. Shum's surrender was "a put up- job" and yet another example of the methods of intimidation of the Kuomintang. It is of interest now to read the extract from his private letter to Mrs. Selwyn-Clarke enclosed with 7 on the 1946 file. The Attorney-General's summing up of the case (enclosure 2 of 7) is also of interest.
The Governor encloses a copy of the letter which he is sending to General Chang Fa-kwei, via the Consul General, intimating his decision. He fears that it may be taken as an affront and lead to strained relations and possibly another anti-British campaign in the Canton press. However this may be, there was clearly no other course open to the Governor and indeed the opportunity of taking a firm line in this case may be to the good. We have had several reports recently about the extent to which Kuomintang influence is increasing in the Colony and the difficulty of controlling a society which is a branch of the political party forming the central Government of China. The only suggestion which the Acting Secretary for Chinese Affairs was able to make in the memorandum registered behind 24 on the 46 file was that the Chinese Government should be prevailed upon to post to the headship of the Kuominta ng branch in Hong Kong a more acceptable individual than the present holder of the post. We have been warned of the probability of increasing difficulty and disturbances caused by the Kuomintang and of the need to adopt a firm line. The Governor has adopted such a line in this case and I suggest that a despatch might go to him expressing the Secretary of State's approval: A copy of the despatch at 7 and enclosures should go to the Foreign Office.
As Mr. Shum's petition to the Secretary of State enclosed with 14 has not actually been acknowledged I have added a sentence to this effect to the draft.
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8. The Foreign Office have agreed, with one amendment, to our draft despatch at 25 and I have "at onced"it.
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