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In his memorandum to the Foreign Office, the British Minister at Peking, Sir Thomas Francis Wade, reviewed the whole problem of customs collections as it related to Hongkong from the time of the treaty revision in 1868.
He remarked: "The sum of my propositions from first to last was that we should either retrocede Hongkong to the Chinese Government or that we should allow the Chinese Government to establish a branch of the Customs Inspectorate in Hongkong; either concession, of course, to be purchased of us by a counter-concession to the general advantage of British trade with China, the particular advantage to Colonial Trade being the reduction to a minimum of the interference of the Chinese Revenue Service with native craft.”
Hongkong residents naturally would have considered the British Minister's suggestion of giving Hongkong back to China as a betrayal and sell-out. In their view it would totally discredit British prestige. One wonders if Wade was really serious in his suggestion.
He interpreted the conclusions of the Hongkong Commission as a denial of the right of the Chinese Government to search vessels of its own people on the high seas, or in its own waters if such vessels were within 10 miles of Hongkong.
As a diplomat, Wade believed some concessions were needed. Britain should do what it could to ensure that China received whatever duties it might levy on goods leaving or arriving on its shores, even though they passed through Hongkong.
Robertson at Canton also advocated conciliation. He charged Hongkong with viewing the problem too narrowly: "There are other interests of more importance than the interests of local trade which seem to be forgotten in the battle for local interests, and I fear if the report of the committee be published the Chinese authorities, knowing it was appointed by the Colonial Government, may consider that the strong expressions of opinion it contains are sanctioned by the Executive, and this may tend to interrupt the entente cordiale which is so important to maintain." He was