In reply to a question, he said he had no basis for assessing opinion in Canton on the subject.
2.
Chinese interests in other British territories.
Dr. Li said he had heard little in Chungking f conditions in Malaya or other British territories
He had in fact met one Chinese who in the South Seas. had walked overland from Malaya to Free China, and from the amount of kudos which this individual enjoyed in Chungking, ne thought he must have been a unique case. Before he left Hong Kong there had been practically no communication between that Colony and Singapore, and he wentioned a family of considerable affluence in Hong Kong who were penniless through being unable to get in touch with the Head of the family, who was in jave.
As regards future Chinese policy in those areas, Dr. Li professed acceptance of the published statement that China nad no territorial ambitions in that direction.
3. Conditions in Hong Kong,
Dr. Li stressed that there had been great distrust of the military ven among the population of Hong Kong and there was a general tendency to put one's
He mentioned capital in real property or commodities.
that the large stures regularly shut by 4 in the afternoon and restricted their sales as much as possible, e. g. they would not sell more than une piece of cutlery at a time. The Japanese, norever, held a cluse control of such food supplies as there were in the Colony, and had made use of these to obtain the services of local labour, which
They preferred payment in kind to payment in military yen. could get crews for vessels sailing to Indo-China by paying them in rice, which would afterwards be disposed of in the black market, and they had similarly got labour for the dockyards by payment in rice and in shavings for firewood. When it was suggested to him that tuis control of rationa nad also helped the Japanese to maintain tue services of the Indian and Chinese police, Dr. Li agreed, but added that special conditions also weighed with the Police Force, e.g. Indians were treated more on a basis of equality than they nad been in the past, and the Chinese police were allowed
The numbers to accept a considerable amount of "squeeze". of Japanese Gendarmes in the Colony were on the low side, and Dr. Li nad attributed this to the method in which they carried out their duties. An appeal to them for assistance was likely to lead to the complainant being himself abused or held under arrest as a witnees pending a case being brougnt. For that reason, people did not readily appeal for police assistance and there was a great drop (of which the Japanese had made much) in the number of police court cases.
Dr. Li agreed that the Japanese had greatly reduced the population by strongly encouraging all transients
He thought, however, to return to their native villages.
that nothing which they had done nad been worse propaganda on their part than their action in forcing so many to leave the Colony with insufficient provision to reach their home villages. Many of these unfortunates mad, in fact, never reached home. He also mentioned the difficulty which many refugees and found in finding work in Free China. Chauffeur had returned to the Colony after 2 months' in which he had completely failed to find employent. in fact, un returning to Hong kong, munage to obtɛin a job as a driver.
4. Hong Kong University.
His own
absence
He did,
Dr. Li said that the University buildings in Hong Kong had suffered great damage and that the new Science
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