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5
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the border at the road bridge at Man Kam To and other
At the end of September two police constables
places.
who had inadvertently crossed the border while off duty
were detained by the Chinese authorities.
In mid-October,
a Senior Police Inspector was seized by a group of villagers
near the border at Man Kam To and hustled across to Chinese
After this incident the bridge was closed.
territory.
This led to protests from the Chinese side which claimed that villagers had the right to cross at this point at any
time to cultivate their land on the British side.
7. At the suggestion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in Peking, talks were held in November with Chinese border
officials. They dealt with the closure of the Man Kam To
bridge, the release of the policemen detained and other
border matters. After prolonged negotiation (10 meetings
over 25 days) it was agreed that the bridge would be
re-opened and an ex gratia award of some HK$ 75,000 paid
to Chinese farmers who had been unable to cultivate their
fields because of the closure; and that the three
policemen would be exchanged for five Chinese nationals who
熹
had been arrested for various offences in British territory.
The British Inspector had already escaped after being detained
for 36 days and succeeded in finding his way back to the
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/Colony.