CO129-505-6 Chinese telegraph office at Hong Kong- transfer to Cantonese control 8-7-1927 - 29-12-1927 — Page 88

85

No. 98.

Copies to:- 7.0. No. 68

liongkong.

H.B.M. Consulate General,

Canton,

June 10th, 1927.

Sir,

With reference to Sir R. Macleay's despatch to the

Foreign Office No. 418 of the 2nd June, 1926, I have the

honour to report that I received a visit today from ir. Hu

Chun-lin (

the Chief Secretary of the

Kuangtung Branch Political Council, who was accompanied by

Mr. Wai Yuk {

) of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Their object was to reopen the question of the Chinese telegraph

office in Hongkong and to have it transferred to the control

of the Canton authorities.

2.

Mr. Hu spoke at considerable length on the

subject, but the sum of his remarks was that Peking now had

less right than ever to appoint a superintendent to a telegraph

office whose business is entirely concerned with places

in nationalist territory, and that the control of the office

by the huangtung authorities, to whom it rightly belonged,

would make for more friendly relations between the Hongkong and

Canton Governments.

3.

I asked Mr. Hu how he would regard the removal

of the office from Họngkong territory to the Chinese frontier,

as desired by the Colonial authorities and suggested in

paragraph 3 of your despatch referred to above. He had not

considered this possibility, but he welcomed the suggestion

and did not seem to care where the office was situated so long

as it was under Canton control, and the Peking appointee removed

I told him Lowever that the whole question was bound up

with the rights of the foreign cable companies in other

parts of China, whose interests had to be considered, and that

I could only refer the matter once more to yourself and to

His Majesty's Minister,

the/

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