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6. He asked me to assure you that he shared the view expressed by Sir Orme Sargent (your telegram No.86) that it was highly undesirable at the present time, to allow relations between our two countries to. be upset by a small issue such as this. Indeed, he would, he said, go further and maintain that even the much larger question of Hong Kong, was not worth quarrelling about.
7. I do not know how the Government of Hong Kong will view the two. points raised by Minister for Foreign Affairs but as regards the. first point one thing [grps undec.? which is really clearlis that whatever settlement is reached the Chinese will always have it in their power to twist it to their advantage. It could moreover be argued that an agreement between the two Governments entrusting the care and maintenance to the Chinese Government implies that the Chinese claim to jurisdiction has not, (repeat not) been established. It would also have the advantage of involving the Chinese Government themselves in responsibility for any possible future misuse of the Garden. I would myself however prefer a solution. which would entrust the care and maintenance to a Committee of Custodians consisting of an equal number of nominees appointed by each of the two Governments. As regards the second point, I think that we must maintain the principle that the two men were rightly sentenced. Whether it is possible from the point of view of the Hong Kong Government to maintain this principle and to release the men as an act of grace I am naturally not in a position to say. In any case by the time a settlement is reached, they will probably have served a good deal of their sentence.
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