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54454/2/48

Code

IMPORTANT

No. 2

CUTWARD TELEGRAM.

TO HONG KONG (Sir A. Grantham)

FROM S. OF S., COLONIES,

Sent 1st January, 1949. 12.00 hre.

Addressed to Governor Hong Kong.

'Repeated to H.D.M's Ambassador, Nanking.

Commissioner-General · S, E. Äeja No.1. "Consul-General, Canton.

"?

Your telegram No. 1187 paragraph 2, last

(11)

sentence.

You may like to know that in Foreign Affsira debate in House on 10th December Er. Mayhew, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, replying to observations by Mr. Churchill, spoke as follows sbout Hong Kong :-

The right bonourable Gentlemen this morning raieed several questions outside Europe, one of them Hong Kong, in which he asked for e statement of the policy of His Majesty'e Government. I think there. is no need to make any formal or long atatomen ta I will merely state that it is the intention of His Majesty's Covernment to maintain their position in Hong Konge We entirely appreciate the importance. of Hong Kong es described by the right honourablo Gentleman, Indeed, we feel that in this

1

particularly troubled situation the value and importance of Hong Kong as a centre of stability will be greater than ever.

Copies of Hungard Vol. 459 Nos. 33 and

34 follow by air mail.

(༤、,

13

(Copies sent to Foreign office for ouvard transmission)

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