CO129-629-7 Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees- financial assistance from the International Red Cross 1-1-1950 - 31-1-1951 — Page 22

54490/50

Dear Hadapi th,

Claroh Hou108 Great and th Street,

London, S.W. 1.

16 March, 1950.

192

-I unclese, as

agreed at the meeting on

2nd March, about the proposed financial settlement for Hong Kong, & ooyy of the Governor's recent despatch regarding remittances made through the International Red Cross for relief work in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation. You will see that the Governer very emphatically adopts the view that any funds which may be recovered from the Red Gross would be due to the Hong Kong Government; he bassa himself upon a strictly literal interpretation of the financial settlement of 1948.

2. It was agreed at the maeting that this should be discussed at the financial conference by which time the total amount likely to be recovered may be clearer.

3.

Whilst we cannot in advance of the conference expROSS any final views on the subject, I think that at the above meeting there was a suggestion that if Treaswy agreed to admit the "Kacao" expenditure as chargeable to His Majesty's Government as a belated "loan-in-aid" period transaction (subsequently converted inte a "grant-in-aid"), then this Red Groan balance might possibly be considered as a belated "loan-in-aid" period

H.C. MIDSPTTH, ESQ.,

TREASURY.

receipt