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W. 1691
27th August 1945
Personal for General Ismay from Carton de Wiart.
The Generalissimo sent for me again today for express purpose of discussing events as at time of my last interview (my W.1868 refers). Neither he nor I 38 had seen Foreign Office 984. He began by saying that
he could not understand our refusal to accept his dele- gation of power to U.S. in the receiving of Hong Kong surrender, he argued that as the Allies had appointed him C. in C. China Theatre surely it was his prorogative to decide the means and mode of accepting the surrender of enemy forces within any part of his Command, and that although we had informed him of our intention of sending a British Fleet into Hong Kong it did not, in his view, alter the fact that he had the right to determine who should accept surrender.
2. He went on to deplore our present attitude which he thought would seriously impair the traditional friendship between our two countries especially as he had hoped that our new Government would even have improved on our former cordial relations. In consequence present situation was particularly painful to him.
3.
I have had many interviews with the Generalissimo during discussions of last two years, sometimes at most critical moments. He has always been entirely frank and ingenuous but never have I seen him so moved as he was today.
4.
Inmediately prior to my interview with Generalissimo I saw Wedemeyer who said, speaking entirely without bias,
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