Government House, Hong-Kong, 17th March, 1899.
I have the honour to inform you that Mr. Wong Tsun Shin who was deputed by the Viceroy of Canton to assist in the delimitation of the Northern boundary of the Kowloon extension, arrived on the 10th instant and on the 11th had an interview with Mr. Stewart Lockhart. He returned to Canton on the 12th instant to consult the Viceroy and came back on the 14th instant when he again met Mr. Lockhart with a proposal that the Sham Chun river should form the boundary. This was the extreme limit to which he was permitted to go.
2. He came here with Mr. Stewart Lockhart and we discussed the matter for over two hours. I endeavoured to show him that it would be to the mutual advantage of China and this Government to have Sham Chun and Sha-Tao Kok included in the leased territory, and pointed out to him that if they were, they would still be open for the Chinese to as great an extent as at present, while if they are not ceded they will be closed to the Chinese inhabitants of this Colony who have been in the habit of resorting to them, but it was clear that he had orders not to grant them. I then thought it well to have the river boundary formally agreed to as a provisional measure leaving...
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The Right Honourable JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, M.P.
800.
&G. * 8cc.
PRINTED FOR USE OF THE EASTERN COLONIAL OFFICE
No. 312
Page 363
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Page 363