CODE 18-77
Mr RJ F Hoare
CONFIDENTIAL
Reference
7. HKK. 36|||
(13)
Hong Kong & General Dept
KOWLOON WALLED CITY
1.
No
Talco Af29/1 THE 911
Eve is 16
I see no objection to legislation for the compulsory acquisition of land being enacted to apply to the whole of Hong Kong (without mentioning the walled city) coupled with restraint from taking administrative action under it in the walled city (Hong Kong teleletter of 8 September). Those who are content with that course need not read the rest of this minute, although paragraph 7 may appeal to those who, like myself, believe that we did not acquire territorial sovereignty over the leased territories.
2.
a
By a Deed dated 20 March 1860 the local Chinese Governor General leased to Harry Smith Parkes a part of the Kowloon Peninsula. The lease described the area as consisting for the most part of barren hills that could not be cultivated and which had hitherto formed a place of resort for thieves and outlaws who, availing themselves of the immediate proximity of the City of Victoria [on Hong Kong Island] constantly crossed to Hong Kong and committed depredations in that settlement. Mr Parkes was said to be acting on behalf of the British Government, and the lease was said to be granted so that the British Government might exercise complete control over the leased area. The area was described as that part of the Kowloon Peninsula lying south of line drawn from a point near to but south of the Kowloon Fort to the northern-most point of Stonecutters Island, together with that Island, as shown on the accompanying map. The map shows little detail. True north is not shown and the only legend is a scale marked in miles and furlongs. Stonecutters Island is marked. A straight line has been drawn from the northern-most tip of that Island (which lies to the west of the Kowloon peninsula) and runs in a roughly easterly direction so as to cut the western coast of the Kowloon peninsula and to proceed again in a roughly easterly direction until it meets the eastern coast of the peninsula. It is marked "Proposed boundary". The eastern end terminates just to the north of a small promontory on which there are Chinese characters, just underneath which are words which look like "Cowloong prontory". Just to the north of this promontory and to the north of the boundary line appears the word "fort", in small print, and a little further north of that still is the word, in larger print,"Kowloon". This, together with the description of the leased area contained in the lease itself, seems to indicate that in so far as there was a City of Kowloon in 1860 it was to the north of the boundary and formed no part of the area leased.
3.
The 1860 Convention refers to this area in Article VI. Under that Article, the Chinese ceded to the United Kingdom " that portion of the township [sic] of Cowloon,
•
.of which a
lease was granted in perpetuity to Harry Smith Parkes. The same Article provides for the establishment of a Mixed Commission
CONFIDENTIAL
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