CO129-518-3 Proposals to hold periodical conferences between principal British authorities in China- and the government in... 13-8-1929 - 31-12-1929 — Page 19

My dear Lampson,

1st November, 1929.

Your letter of the 4th October reached

me when I returned to Hong Kong on the 28th October.

I did not, as you seem to think, wire to the Colonial

Office about periodical visits, though I had wired

urging a visit from you on the specific question of

the Draft Commercial Treaty, but I wrote in a confi-

dential despatch to the Secretary of State, dated the

31st May last, as follows:

"In my opinion, British interests in

China suffer severely from the fact that the principal

authorities concerned, namely, His Majesty's Minister

at Peking, the Naval Commander-in-Chief, the General

officer, China Command, and the Governor of Hong Kong,

seldom have an opportunity of conferring together in

person. It often happens that the Naval Commander-in-

Chief, the General officer, China Command, whose head-

quarters are now in Hong Kong, and the Governor of

Hong Kong can confer together, especially during the

winter months, when most of His Majesty's ships are us

a rule in Hong Kong; but it very seldom happens that

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