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The Political Issue between Great Britain and China regarding Hong Kong
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The Colony of Hong Kong comprises three aros:-
(a) The Island of Hong King, ceded outright to Creat
Britain by the Nanking Treaty of 1842.
(b) Part of the Kowloon peninaila opposite Hong Kong,
ceded outright by the Peking Convention of 1860.
(c) The New Territories, leased for 99 years by the
Peking Convention of 1898. They include part
2.
of the mainland and a mrber of islands in he
vicinity, of a total area of 405 square miles.
The reason for the lease of the New Territories,
as stated in the preamble to the convention, was that an
extension of Hong King territory was necessary for the
proper defence and protection of the Colony. What has
now become an equally important factor is that the main
water supply of Hong Kong is in the New Territorios.
In the course of the negotiations wich
preceded the abolition of extwaterritoriality in China,
the Chines Government, made a request for the rendition
of the New Territories. His Majesty's Goverment,
refused to consider this question in comme ion with
extraterritoriality but agreed that it might be discussed
with the Chinese Government after the war. Almost
certainly the Chinese Government will then face us with
the proposal that the Agreement of 1898 should be terminated
and that the area should revert to Chinese sovereignty.
4. At no time have the Chinese Government raised
the question of the statue of Hong Kong as a whole, but
it is generally recognised that their ultimate object
is the 'recover' of the whole Colony ceded to treat
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