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SECTION I
1.
MEMORANDUM ON THE HONGKONG CUSTOMS
AGREEMENT.
Summary of the History of the question.
a new one,
1. The question of the use of Hongkong
as a base for smuggling into China is not
It goes back at any rate for
sixty years, for it was as early as 1868
that the so-called "fiscal blockade" of
Hongkong by the Chinese became an acute
issue. Although these measures were highly
obnoxious to the people of Hongkong, the
right of the Chinese to take the until
such time as the smuggling were checked
and suitable measures taken to protect the
Chinese revenues, was not questioned by
H.M.G. In 1887 an officer of the Chinese
Maritime Customs was, by virtue of the
Opium Agreement of 1886, and as a belated
result of Article 7 of the Chefoo Con-
vention of 1876, providing for the ap-
pointment of a joint commission (to es-
tablish some system to enable the Chinese
Government to protect its revenue without
prejudice to the interests of the Colony),
first allowed to function at Kowloon, with
an office in Hongkong. To this day,
however, he is still only unofficially
recognised by the Government of the Colony.
At the same time (1887), the four stations
already existing for the control of traf-
fic in the delta were placed under his
control.
As a consequence, however,
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