No.8/0 57 (194/1080/48)
BRITISH EMBASSY
NANKING
2
30th January, 1948.
(My dear Peter
In case you may be under any delusion that the flag hoisting ceremony referred to in our telegram No.107 of January 30th, was arranged with ense I harter to place the true facts of the matter before you. As you know from our telegram No.64 of January 10th we had originally intended to include a flag bolsting ceremony in our demands to the Ministry of Foreign Affaire for reparataion for the burning down of the Consulate-General at Canton, In the goodness of our hearts we then decided that we would suggest to the Chinese that the proposal for the holding of such a ceremony might come from the Chinese side and thereby constitute a spontaneous expression of a desire to atone for a criminal attack against the property and representatives of a friendly power. In our conversations with the Ministry me male it clear that we wiɛbed the flag to be hoisted in the apot where it had been hauled down. At first the Ministry appeared to take to the idea but later recanted, the Minister for Foreign Affairs pointing out that the Chinese Government were apprehensive that the ceremon we desired might provoke further serious anti-British outbursts in Canton. He would prefer that the ceremony ehould take place on offices lect temporarily to His Majesty's Consulate-General and after the settlement of the Kowloon fccident. we eventually compromised on a proposal that there should be two ceremonies one to take place at the temporary Consulate-General buildings forthwith and ore at the old Consulate site after the reconstruction of the original building. The Minister for Foreign Affairs agreed to exchange letters with the Ambassador to this effect. Once again there was a hitch. This time it was a case of the Minister for Foreign Affairs deciding that he preferred to put nothing in writing on the subject. He did agree however to give the necessary instructione to the Mayor to attend the two ceremonies. After the usual promptinge from this Embnesy the Mayor has apparently been given the necessary instructions and as stated in our telegram No. 107, the firet ceremony will take place tomorrow.
The foregoing will give you a foretaste of the speed and facility which are likely to attend the comperantion negotiations when these take place.
P.W.S.Y. scarlett, Esquire,
China nepartment,
Foreign Office,
LONDON, D.W. 1.
(G.P. Labouchere)