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He recalled his conversation on the subject with the Governor of Hong
Kong in 1955 and once again used the presence of British diplomatic
officers in Shanghai to support the argument for CPG representation in
Hong Kong. However, Zhou seemed to be arguing for a reply to Chinese
requests, rather than suggesting a specific parallel.
76 The reply was duly delivered on 27 February 1958 when the Secretary
of State (Mr Selwyn Lloyd) spoke to the Chinese Chargé d'Affaires in
London. In the course of a lengthy exchange in which the Secretary of
State covered a number of points on Sino-British relations and on general
international issues, he told Huan Xiang (Huan Hsiang) that the British
Government could not agree to the appointment of a Chinese official
representative in Hong Kong in the present climate of relations. The
Aide Mémoire, handed to Huan, gave as the reason : "Her Majesty's
Government have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the Chinese
Government are not at present prepared to acknowledge the legitimate
point of view of the Hong Kong Government so as to co-operate with that
Government on the problems arising between them". The Chargé d'Affaires
replied that he thought Chinese representation in Hong Kong could be
beneficial and not the reverse.
a number of years.
There the matter apparently rested for
77 Further approaches, 1971-1973
The question was not opened again
until early in 1971 when formal talks on the exchange of Ambassadors
commenced in Peking and Chinese Ministers took the opportunity of the
negotiations on normalisation to make their case for the appointment of
an official representative in Hong Kong. From 1971 until June 1973 the
Chinese pursued this question with greater vigour than any time before or
CONFIDENTIAL
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