2.
a questionnaire prepared by the Acting Attorney General. A
copy of the questions and the answers given by Mr. Shum is
enclosed for your information, together with a copy of a
minuted dated 11th December, 1946, in which the Acting Attorney
General recorded his observations on this case.
3•
The question whether an order should be made for
the surrender of Mr. Shum was discussed at a meeting of Executive
Council on 18th December, 1946, when after considering the
replies made by Mr. Shum to the charges brought against him the
members of Council unanimously advised that the application for
his surrender should be rejected. I accepted the advice of
Council, with which I fully concur, and directed that an order
be made for the immediate release of Mr. Shum.
4.
I now enclose for your information a copy of a
letter dated 30th December, 1946, which I have addressed to
General Chang Fa-Kwei setting out the reasons why I am unable
to comply with his request for the surrender of Mr. Shum as a
collaborator. This letter will be transmitted to General
Chang by Mr. Ronald Hall, His Majesty's Consul-General at
Canton, whom I have requested to make any further explanations
which he considers desirable in order to make the rejection of
the application more acceptable to the Chinese Authorities and
less likely to cause strained relations between Canton and Hong
Kong. In this connexion I invite your attention to my telegram
No.351 of 16th June, 1946, and subsequent correspondence on the
subject of the suppression of the "National Times" newspaper.
The campaign waged against Mr. Shum and his newspaper the "Wah
Kiu Yat Po" by the Kuomintang-controlled organs of the Hong Kong
and Canton press reached serious proportions in May and June of
last year and culminated in the suppression of the "National
Times" by this Government. Consequently there is reason to
apprehend that the rejection of the application for the surren-
der of Mr. Shum may be regarded as an affront leading to loss
3
1946 file