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21.
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After the Sha Tau Kok affair the border area remained unsettled and there was a succession of minor incidents, mostly arising from the passage of villagers across the border at the road bridge at Man Kam To and at other places. At the end of September two Police constables 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 was hustled across to Chinese territory. After this latter incident the bridge at Man Kam To was closed by us, for the second time. This inevitably led to protests as before from the Chinese side, which claimed that villagers had the right to cross at this point at any time they chose to cultivate their land on the British side.
22. At the suggestion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Peking, a series of discussions was held in November with Chinese border officials. These discussions dealt with the closure of the Man Kam To bridge, the release of the policemen detained and other border matters. After prolonged negotiations, it was agreed that the bridge would be re-opened and an ex gratia award of some $75,000 paid to the Chinese farmers who had been unable to cultivate their fields in British Territory because of the closure; and that the three policemen would be exchanged for five Chinese nationals who had been arrested for various offences in British territory. The Inspector in fact contrived to escape, after being detained for 36 days, and succeeded in making his way back to the Colony. The exchange of the other two police- men was duly effected.
23. In China conditions steadily deteriorated during the summer.
In many areas the bitter struggles for power among rival factions led to conditions of near chaos. During July and August, when the battle between the warring factions was at its height, the rail service between Canton and the border was constantly interrupted, with a serious effect on the Colony's food supplies. A reduced quantity of pigs and vegetables continued to arrive at irregular intervals by road and by sea, but there was a general scarcity and prices rose significantly.
24.
The situation did not improve until September, when conditions in China generally started to turn for the better. In Canton the rival combatants were ordered to stop their internecine war to allow the Canton Fair to open on 15th October; the opening nevertheless had to be postponed until 15th November. When the fair was over, and national prestige no longer at stake, there was some renewal of disorders, which still continue in this area.
25. During this period no attempt was made to put pressure on the Colony by withholding supplies of food. In spite of the difficulties, such supp plies as could be made available continued to arrive; and as soon as comparative order was restored in Kwangtung the volume of imports quickly returned to near normal.
26. In supplying water the Kwangtung authorities have been more equivocal. The rainfall in late 1966 and the early summer rains of 1967 were the lowest on record, and by the end of June, although we had drawn our full quota of Chinese water and an agreed addition of 1,800 million gallons, our reservoirs were dangerously low. In May we had asked for a further 2,000 million gallons for the month of July but, although so far as we were aware it could well be spared, we had no reply. Subsequent requests in June and July were also unanswered and the general ration had to be reduced to four hours every fourth day. Fortunately it rained in time to retrieve the situation, and we were able to revert to a four hour daily supply for the rest of the summer.
29.
Somewhat to our relief the supply from China was reintroduced on its Que date of 1st October, but broad hints were dropped that we were expected 16 ...
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