CO129-592-8 Future Policy in Hong Kong 1-1-1945 - 26-11-1945 — Page 141

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3. May, 1945

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sir,

I am directed by Colonel Oliver Stanley to refer to your letter of the 4th April and to inform you that the reply given by the Foreign Secretary in answer to a question by Colonel Burton in the flouse of Commons ou the 6th March to the effect that the status of British Colonies would not be altered without consultation with such Colonies and the sanction of the House, included Hong Kong. In this connection I am to draw your attention to Mr. Attlee's reply to Mr. Astor in the House of Commons on the 8th November, 1944, when he stated that no part of the British. Empire or Commonwealth of Nations is excluded from the scope of the Prime Minister's declaration that it was not proposed to liquidate the British Empire.

th

In regard to the intentions of His Majesty's Government in connection with the San Francisco Conference, I am to refer you to a statement by the Prime Minister in reply to a written question by Mr. Orcach Jones on the 20th March. In that statement Mr. Churonill made it clear that "matters affecting British Colonial Territory will not be discussed at San Francisco or at any meeting in connection with that Conference".

I em. Six

Your obedient Servant,

THE SECRETARY,

THE CHINA ASSOCIATION.

(Sgd.) J. J. PASKIN