CO129-518-1 Chinese Telegraph Office in Hong Kong 28-6-1929 - 3-1-1930 — Page 57

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I am

and treated as a strictly commercial undertaking.

informed that Lu is at present sick at Canton and that he

is a military man. The present Superintendent is a

commercial man and his successor should also have business

or technical qualifications for the post. I must again

emphasize the point that I cannot allow this post to become

a piece of political spoil".

3. I have had no reply as yet from Sir Miles Lampson;

but Mr. Lu Chih-yün, who has recovered from his illness,

came to Hong Kong, called on the Secretary for Chinese

Affairs on the 16th of September, and endeavoured to take

charge of the Chinese Telegraph Office here. This I

have refused to permit, and I now enclose a copy of a

further despatch, which I have today addressed to His

Majesty's Minister at Peking on this troublesome subject.

4. If British administration is to be carried on

successfully in this Colony, it is in my opinion absolutely

necessary to oppose a firm resistance to attempts made by

the Chinese Government to obtain a political foothold in

Hong Kong, of which attempts this intrigue in connection

with the Chinese Telegraph Office is one instance, the

agitation for appointment of a Chinese Consul in Hong Kong

is another, while the Kowloon Customs may well become a

third unless the negotiations initiated by Mr. Maze

eventuate in a Customs Agreement between theColony and the

Chinese Government.

I have the honour to be,

My Lord,

Your Lordship's most obedient, humble servant,

lemento

Governor, &c.