FO371-46251 — Page 17

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Bref for General Hurley and visit:

HONGKONG.

72119

-6 APR 3

In a telegram to General Ismay dated 27th March(copy

attached) Field-Marshal Wilson records a conversation with

General Hurley in which the latter said that we were likely

to encounter a rough attitude from the President and the

State Department over Hongkong and that he might be raising

this question in London.

We must therefore be prepared for the possibility of

his mentioning Hongkong, but it is not possible to foresee

from what angle and with what degree of emphasis he is likely

do an

to raise the question.

He would presumably be likely to begin with some general

reference to American concern about Hongkong and it might be

tactically advantageous to reply at once on a challenging

note and to ask whether that concern is based to any extent

on a belief that the Colony has been unwisely administered

or unfairly exploited in British interests. He can be safely

challenged to disprove that it has been run to the benefit of

nearly a million Chinese residents and of all countries having

relations with China, and that the opportunities it affords,

in a material sense, have been equally available to all

nationalities. The main points regarding the British record

ང ཡད ཀྱི དོགས in Hongkong are briefly set out in the attached note.

Apart from this, there seem to be three main general

points:

1. The question of Hongkong is one between Great Britain

and China, and the Chinese Government must be aware of the

present attitude of His Majesty's Government as recently

reaffirmed in Parliament.

2. Having lost Hongkong to the enemy, it is a point of

national honour for us to recover it.

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3./

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