4
(The miner meaning of
is that
16
Cam
من
all thes
furs
a
pomunist
va
prospective factamenting candidat`).
AB
3075727
The Order in Council for 20th October, 1898
declared the new territories to be part and parcel
of the Colony of Hong Kong "in like manner and for all
intents and purposes as if they had originally formed
part of the said Colony".
Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain in
1841, and the oession was confirmed by the Treaty
of Nanking in August, 1842. It would, therefore,
appear possible to contend that any person born in
the new territories since the latter date was under
the Order in Council declared to have become a
British subject as from the 20th of October, 1898, whether he was actually present in the territories
that date or not.
The Convention of 9th June, 1898 is silent as
to any change of nationality resulting from the lease
of the new territory, but when we consulted the Law
Officers in 1899 it was apparently contemplated that
the Order in Council of 1898 was to be read subject
to principles which 'in international law or practice
have been applied to change of nationality of the
inhabitants in other cases of cession.
The question put to the Law Officers and
their answer in 1899 was, therefore, restricted to
"persons inhabiting the new territory" when it was
taken over. It may perhaps be inferred that natives
of that territory who were not resident there at the
crucial