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land on Hongkong Island when the British took it over. They petitioned the Kwangtung Government to present their claims on an official level to the British Government. The Chinese authorities, however, refused to intercede as their investigation showed the claimants had not paid taxes on the land for many years.
The authorities held that these findings had constituted a negation of the Tang family's rights to the land. This may have been a handy excuse for the Chinese officials to avoid another confrontation with the British soon after their humiliating defeat in the first Opium War.
In the 1860s the Tang claim to rights in British Kowloon was confirmed by the grant of some half a dozen farm lots. These, however, soon passed out of the possession of the Tang family. Some were sold but most were lost when the individual to whom they had been granted went into debt to a foreign contractor of Chinese labour, and his property was sold at Sheriff's sale.
In New Kowloon, particularly in the western portion, individual members and groups of the Tang family still owned land in the late 19th century. A certain portion, especially land which had been reclaimed, was still in the name of the five ancestors for whom a temple had been built at Tung Kun city. The association to support the temple was the Po Hing Tong.
When suggestions were being aired that Britain might expand its borders, there was renewed interest in the holdings of the Po Hing Tong by certain prominent members of the Tang clan. The matter was managed by an individual of the Ping Shan branch of the family. He had passed the Kui Yan examination, equivalent to a modern master's degree, and had certain important connections. He used these in getting management of the Tang ancestral holdings.
It was charged that after he had the land in his control, he had mortgaged it to the Fuk Tin Company, in which he had an interest. The company itself, however, was largely controlled by Li Sing, Hongkong capitalist. Ho A-mei often represented the Li family, particularly in its dealing with foreigners. He, therefore, was