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 21

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3.

a conference of the principal British authorities,

whom I have named, would, I venture to think, be in

British territory, and for that reason I propose that

the meeting place should be Hong Kong.

H

I value very much your outspoken letter, and

I shall reply with the same frankness. As you know,

I wished to return to Hong Kong through Siberia and

visit you at Peking en route. Our Foreign Office,

however, refused to give me a passport for the journey

across Siberia and, therefore, I was not able to

confer with you before resuming duty in Hong Kong.

Upon my return to Hong Kong, I was faced with

incessant anxieties, due chiefly to the drought in

Hong Kong and to the continual state of unrest in

Kwangtung and Kwangsi. I was, therefore, not able to

leave the Colony at all until the 1st October, when I

paid a long promised visit to the Governor General of

the #hilippine Islands. I had wanted to do this while

Mr. Stimson was there, and was again invited by Mr.

Davis, and felt that I could not defer such & visit

any longer without an appearance of discourtesy, 28

General Leonard Wood, Mr. Stimson (twice) and Ir. Devis