5
On the 27th December, 1899 an
Order in Council was signed which revoked
Article 4 of the Order in Council of
20th October, 1898, and assimilated Kowloon
with the rest of the leased territory es far
as British administration was concerned.
We can therefore meet any claim by
the present Chinese Government on the
strength of the notification made to the
Chinese Government on the 30th May, 1899 by
the Foreign Office.
But there is another point where
the Chinese may seek firmer ground for a
protest: viz. the 6th paragraph of the
1898 Convention runs: -
"it is further understood that
there will be no expropriation or expulsion of
the inhabitants of the district included
within the extension, and that if land is
required for public offices, fortifications,
or the like official purposes, it shall be
bought at a fair price."
That 'understanding' of course
relates not only to the walled village of
Kowloon but to the whole leased territory, and
this would not be the first time that
villagers in the leased territory have been
displaced to make room for public works e.g.
the construction of the Shing Mun dam has
meant the clearing of villages in the Shing
Mun valley, and we can therefore point to
precedents