TNAG-0943-FCO40-1162-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1980 — Page 102

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Chinese Consul-General" (reported in Chungking telegram No 1011 of 3 September 1945). This proposal was passed to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although there was some doubt within the Foreign Office as to whether establishment of a Chinese Consul-General to Hong Kong had been agreed with the Chinese in 1941, a War Office telegram of 9 September 1945 claimed that agreement had been reached subject to stipulations (discussed above), and went on to say that the Foreign Office and Colonial Office were considering the desirability in prevailing circum- stances of maintaining those stipulations. On 10 October 1945, HM Ambassador Chungking was authorised to tell the Chinese Government that Britain was ready to agree to the re-opening of the Chinese Consulate-General in Singapore and to the establish- ment of a Chinese Consulate-General in Hong Kong. No stipula- tions were attached; but it was understood in the Foreign Office and Colonial Office that should a Chinese Consul-General indulge in any of the activities contemplated in the stipulations already discussed, the Foreign Office would be prepared to ask for his with- drawal on the ground that such activities lay outside the legiti- mate scope of a Consular Officer's functions. HM Ambassador in Chungking informed the Chinese Government on 24 October 1945 of HMG's readiness to agree to the establishment of a Chinese Consulate- General in Hong Kong.

Chinese reaction and appointment of a Chinese official

13. It was left to the Chinese Government to decide whether they wished to open a consulate in Hong Kong. A note from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported to the Foreign Office on 14 September 1945, agreed in principle to the station- ing of a Chinese official in Hong Kong "in order to keep contact in political and economic spheres", and nominated Mr T W Kwok, special delegate of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Guangdong and Guangxi to act "temporarily and concurrently with his other duties". A further report from Chungking, dated 8 December 1945, indicated that the Chinese Government was "considering whether a Chinese Consulate-General should be established in Hong Kong in accordance with the proposal of 1940".

14. In the event, the Chinese Government appointed Mr Kwok (in standard Chinese, Guo Dehua) "Special Commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs". He arrived in Hong Kong in November 1945, but it is not clear if he presented any credentials or even whether official notification of his appointment was given through normal diplomatic channels. as HMG had requested. He was still in Hong Kong at the end of 1949 when consideration was given to what, if any, arrangements for representation the new Communist regime in China might seek. HMG was anxious not to revive the title of Consul-General and was equally averse to that of Special Commissioner, as that title had been generally used for Chinese posts in China itself. An alternative such as "Representative in Hong Kong of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs" was suggested (Colonial Office telegram No 1880, 22 December 1949, to Hong Kong).

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