CO129-538-1 Hong Kong University 31-12-1931 - 6-8-1932 — Page 144

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CHINA REPORT

hotheadedness of the student-class in China or to foment social and political agitation in academic circles.

But the advantages which Great Britain and China would have derived from a wise and prudent application of the indemnity funds to the educational needs of China need not be emphasised in these pages, since they have recently been brought prominently to the notice of the British public in the Report of the British Economic Mission to the Far East. Chapter VIII of that Report (pp. 104-107 and also pp. 126-127) deals with "Cultural Relations with China", and may be strongly commended to the attention of the Universities' China Committee. Here we need do no more than quote two remarks in which the opinions arrived at by the Economic Mission are sum- marised :-

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In view of the above-mentioned facts, we feel it to be a matter of most urgent necessity to bring about a more intimate cultural relationship between Great Britain and China. Not only is this desirable for the future development of British trade, but we believe it will be of the greatest possible benefit to China herself.

With these considerations before us,

we feel that steps should be taken at the earliest possible opportunity to devise means whereby Chinese students can be attracted in con- siderable numbers to British universities and workshops, and the intellectual life of Great Britain and China thereby be brought into closer contact (pp. 106-107).

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We desire to draw attention to the undoubted benefits which the trade of the United States derives from the fact that many of those in responsible positions in China have been educated in American universities and are strongly American in sentiment. This result appears to be due to a deliberate policy of the United States Government which remitted nearly 12 million dollars of its share of the 1900 indemnity, this money and a later remission of over six million dollars being used in assisting the education of Chinese students destined to proceed to America, and in educa- tional and cultural activities in China. While we understand that it is the intention of Great Britain to devote part of her remaining share of the 1900 indemnity to educational purposes in China, it cannot be denied that the cultural and educational activities of the United States in China have already given her a big advantage over Great Britain, particularly in engineering and other technical education. We feel that it is a matter of most urgent necessity that a more intimate cultural relationship should be promoted between China and Great Britain, for the purpose

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of attracting Chinese students to British universities and work- shops. We recommend that this matter should be considered at a conference to be summoned at an early date by the Department of Overseas Trade, at which the British Universities and business men interested in the China trade should be represented (pp. 126-127).*

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The sections of the Economic Mission's Report in which these observations occur were referred by the Governor of Hong Kong to Sir William Hornell, vice-chancellor of the University, for an expression of his views. He stated them in a long and valuable minute dated August 22nd last, a copy of which was transmitted to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The third section of his minute, paragraphs 19-27, deals in an interesting and lucid way with the manner in which the indemnity-remission question has been dealt with by His Majesty's Government, and it makes melancholy reading, especially when the brilliant results achieved by the Americans are taken into account. Sir William speaks with exceptional knowledge and authority, for he is himself one of the British members of the Board of Trustees. He refers to the failure, as I hold it, to utilise the Boxer Indemnity concession to the real and mutual benefit of Great Britain and China, and the repeated inability on the part of the British not only in China but elsewhere, to maintain the influence which their general and commercial integrity has secured for them (p. 5). He sees little ground for optimism in the present situation with regard to the recent indemnity settlement, and writes as follows:-

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"I am one of the Trustees the Vice-Chairman—and regret to have to report that I can see little, if any, prospect of any per- manent educational endowment resulting from the recent surrender of the indemnity under the terms of the 1931 Act. I am not denying the benefit to British Industry which should issue from

* The following extract from a speech made by Dr. Hu Shih, very well known in Chinese academic and other circles, at the Pacific Conference of 1931, of which he was Chairman, will be found of interest :—-

"I wish to point out one of the strange phenomena of the world, namely the change- ability, the fickleness of international feelings.

I myself helped to launch the anti- American boycott in Shanghai in 1906. I myself participated in some of the demonstrations, never realising that only four years later I was to land in America to enrol in one of the Universities. In those years, particularly in 1906, because of the Exclusion Act, China's best men spent their time making speeches, demonstrating to the people that the only weapon left us was the anti-American boycott.... In 1908 President Roosevelt proposed to return the surplus portion of the Boxer indemnity to China,

Twenty-three years of the

policy of educating large numbers of students in America has not only completely changed that anti-American feeling but has also made American influence superior to the influence of any other nation in China, culturally, commercially, industrially and intellectually. This is one of the examples of the fickleness of international feelings.”

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