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23rd August, 1945.
My dear Ismay,
kr. Hall has seen telegram JM 15 of the
22nd August about the surrender of Hong Kong and the minutes of Item 2 of the C.0.5. (45) 203rd Meeting, also dated 22nd August, about the delay in the Japanese surrender. He has asked me to write to you in the following sense as
very much worried about the proposals relating to
ng Kong.
In J 15 it is reported that the United States Chiefs of staff consider that the arrangements for the surrender of Hong Kong should be co-ordinated by the British with the Chinese and that their point would not be met if they merely passed on to edemeyer our assurance about the subsequent use of the port of Hong Kong. The proposal made in paragraph 4 of J. S.M. 15 is satisfactory so far as it goes but must, in Mr. Hall's opinion, be read in relation to the general question of delay. ar. Hall notes from the minutes of the Chiefs of stuff's meeting mentioned above that the Foreign office have been asked to tell our Wabassador in Chungking for the information of the Generalissimo, that the British force taking the surrender of Hong Yong has been told to conform to General vacarthur's orcors regarding the date of this surrender which it appears will not now be before the 31st August and may well be a few days later. I understand that a telegrum in this sense has already been despatched by the Foreign office to Chui king.
Mr. Hall feels that it is most important that we should get it clearly on the record that our instructions to Admiral Fraser have been given on the clear understanding that Hong Kong will be surrendercd to Eritish forces and to nobody else. He would be grateful therefore if the Chiefs
General Sir Hastings Ismay, 7.C.B., D.3.0.
IVED
4 SEP 1945
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