7
agree them.
In this letter the Foreign Office
support in particular the Chinese project for
completing the road connection between Hong
Kong and Chinese territory, and hope that it
will be possible to meet the Chinese wishes in
this respect in full and without delay.
They think it right to enlarge upon
the general desirability that the Hong Kong
authorities should secure the goodwill of the
Chinese by "every available legitimate means",
and they reproduce the substance of sentences
from the Colonial Office Memorandum recently
circulated to the Cabinet Committee. They
deprecate in particular the use by the Hong
Kong Government towards the Chinese of such
language as "firmly repudiating any idea of a
possible alliance against a common foe", and
they explain that it is the desire of H.M.G.
that every assistance should be given to China
"within the bounds of propriety" to enable her
to keep up with her resistance to aggression;
with this policy in view they ask that the
Secretary of State may issue instructions to
the Hong Kong authorities "to adopt in future
as accommodating an attitude as is possible
towards legitimate suggestions from the
Chinese authorities".
To my mind this little lecture is
rather surprising, and, I believe, undeserved.
On the important question, for instance, of
the supply of arms to China through Hong Kong,
the Hong Kong Government has, while stressing
the embarrassing nature of the trade to the
Colony,
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.