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Chung Shan University after he had been invited to do
so, there is also the natural fear on the part of
Canton that this University might become a real centre
of Chinese studies if a scholar of Dr. Chen's repute
came to it, and Dr. Chen being a scholar and a man of
peace will probably not wish to become the centre of
jealousy and even hatred. In any case he would only
come for one year, though if the political situation
were easier, he might at the end of that time be induced
to stay. The salary, as Dr. Hu Shih admitted, is a
great temptation, so it will be a bad blow for us if
our offer is turned down, for it will suggest to me at
least that cultural relations with Hong Kong University
are not altogether safe or desirable from the point of
view of a scholar in China. Individually of course one
can make very good and very pleasant contacts but
officially Hong Kong seems to be cold-shouldered.
Hu Shih's visit to us and his acceptance of the LL.D.
I thought had put an end to this but now I am not so
sure.
Hong Kong is an excellent place for Generals
like Chan Chai Tong who wish to have a safe deposit
for the great profits they make. I am told he owns a
considerable amount of property in Dar Voeux Road, one
of the main streets, but apart from that there is more
evidence of a desire to crush Hong Kong economically
than to preserve it. The Canton-Hankow line is being
built with British Boxer Indemnity funds, but there is
to be no linking up of the Hong-Kong-Canton railway
with the new line, though there will be a loop from
Whampoa, a port on the Canton river, which it is hoped
to
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