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H
II.
III.
1.
The meeting was ope nod by H.E. the Rt. Hon. Malcolm MacDonald, Commissioner General for the United Kingdom in South East Asia.
2.
The Chairman, Sir John Sterndale Bennett, outlined the tasks before the conference. The immediate purpose of the meeting was to frame recommendations on propaganda policy for consider- ation at the Bukit Serene Conference. The "cold war" necessitated combined action, to which propaganda was ancillary, in the political and economic spheres. Our first objective should be to spread a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, in order to inspire ideals and confidence in our determination to resist the menace of Communism. Our propaganda difficulties were obvious. restricted, in particular, by H.M. G.'s policy towards China.
We were
3.
The problem in South East Asia was of a special nature; the strivings of nationalism and the extremely precarious internal security situ- ations offered a field for exploitation by Communism He would like to start the conference with a general discussion of the whole problem.
4.
For a full report of his remarks see Appendix "A"
He
5.
Mr. F.R. H. Murray asked the Conference to consider fully whether the Foreign Office/Colonial Office directive under which our anti-communist work was being undertaken required modification or amendment generally or for local application. was also anxious to discover whether London was meeting requirements in the area, and whether the machinery here was properly suited to the peculiar tasks of anti-Communist information in Asia. It was recognised that Asia could not be adequately supplied from London, and that much more decentra- lisation was required than was necessary in Europe.
6.
Mr. Halcolm said that he was here especially with the object of equipping himself to give help to posts on positive propaganda from London, where it was regarded as no less valuable and important than anti-Communist propaganda.
Foreign Office/Colonial Office Guidance Paper reference PR.11/183/G of 7th September, 1950
7.
see Appendix "B".)
•
The Chairman suggested that this paper should be the basis for a goneral policy discussion.
It was agreed to draft proposals for a modification of the Directive on the treatment of China.
8.
9.
Mr. Thomson (Singapore) suggested that too much emphasis was at present placed on the
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