CO129-610-2 Rehabilitation of Hong Kong University 9-1-1948 - 18-1-1949 — Page 21

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I sho cord that, in a conversation to-day with Mr. Serpell of the Treasury, the question of the grant of £250,000 for Hong Kong University came up, and Mr. Serpell said that the Treasury would wish to agree with us the terms of any telegram bearing on this matter which we might send to Hong Kong I gather from Mr. Serpell that the Treasury are going to press hard that this £250,000 should be used for development. I said that I understood from my predecessor that this view had been opposed by him and that I was not prepared to commit the Colonial Office in any way to accepting the Treasury standpoint if they pressed for development rather than re-habilitation, and that we should naturally want to seek the Governor's views in the first instance.

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11.5.1948.

Cas 1

tis minute

% 54403(2/4)

Mr. Wallace

I have discussed with Mr. Paskin. Our action should now be to draft a telegram to Hong Kong (it must be agreed with the Treasury) with reference to paragraph 3(a) of the telegram at No. 36 with a view to elucidating exactly what the Hong Kong Government's proposals are, e.g. (a) are they going to contribute £250,000 in addition to the £250,000 H.M.G. are prepared to put up, and (b) in the light of whatever is their intention on that point, how is it proposed that the money should be spent? The Treasury will, I think, probably press for something to be put into the telegram to the effect that the Treasury consider that this grant should be used for development. On the other hand, until we know what the Governor's ideas on the matter are, I should be very disinclined to commit the Colonial Office to any acceptance of that view. The draft should be seen by Mr. Palmer, and it should link up with the question of an application to the University Grants Committee, on which I have suggested that a separate telegram should be drafted on the file already with you.

Please, therefore, concert a draft telegram with Mr. Palmer and the Treasury for conson by higher authority

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