COPY
37
Room 417,
Gloucester Hotel,
HONG KONG.
23rd October, 1947.
My dear George,
The "rendition" of Hong Kong has recently had a good airing in the local Press. As this is a subject in which the Ministry of Transport has a particularly vital interest, you may be interested to have a report of what has happened.
Before the Parliamentary Delegation left for China, it was quite obvious that they would be asked constantly while on their travels what was the British policy over Hong Kong. At their briefing in the Foreign Office, to which Money and I were summoned, they were told that when asked this question they should reply that they were unable to make any statement at all. The M.P.s obviously were not very happy over this, but after some talk accepted the position.
As was expected, the Delegation were asked the inevitable question about Hong Kong wherever they went. It is a constant subject of discussion, I am told, in the Chinese Press, especially of the Canton district. On the 19th October Lord Ammon was asked this question at Tientsin by the Press and replied: "I am not prepared to say anything on this question. The matter must be referred to higher authorities."
On the same day, Dr. Sze Tze Chow, Chairman of the Tientsin Municipal Council, made a speech of welcome to the Delegation in the course of which he said that "while the Chinese are planning to cooperate economically with Britain we are
unable/
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