CO129-604-4 Immigration- control over entry from China 7-3-1947 - 5-11-1947 — Page 8

C.O.

REGISTERED No.

DRAFT AND RECORD COPY

LETTER SENT

Colonial Office,

Church House,

Great Smith Street,

DATE

5th November, 1947.

10

8

DRAFT

MR. Mayle

MR.

MR.

54064/47

CONFIDENTIAL

ky

ENCLOSURES

Copy of letter at (9) from F.0.

My dear MacDougall,

Annet (1) on '48 fik

I enclose a copy of a letter from Scott of the_Foreign Office, commenting on the memorandum by Hazlerigg on the alleged right of Chinese to enter Hong Kong, which you sent me under cover of your letter Nanking No.62(1/1166/47) dated ...August, 1947.

I don't think that we can accept everything in the Foreign Office letter, in particular the doctrine that the Chinese have now a prescriptive Tight to enter Hong Kong (if by that the Foreign Office mean that we no longer have the right to exclude them).

We should be interested to have your views on the arguments adduced by the Foreign Office and on the question, arising out of their letter, as to whether any Hong Kong Ordinances modifying the rights of entry to Hong Kong were enacted in the century before 1940.

To

FURTHER ACTION

Yours sincerely,

Sod. (N.L. Mayle)

D.M. MACDOUGALL, ESQ., C.M.G.

{4556B} Wt. 26930/440 50m. 9/45 C.N.Ld. 746