to Adus
west g
In any further communication
on this subject, please quote
No. F 1099/1099/10
and address-
not to any person by name.
but to-
The Under-Secretary of State,''
Foreign Office,
London, S.W.1.
W.O
2.
مجھے
FOREIGN OFFICE.
S.W.1.
9th March, 1934.
3
90
Sir,
REGY
7
I am directed by Secretary Sir John Simon to
refer to your letter No. 33744/34 of the 26th February
last enclosing a copy of a despatch from the Governor of
Hong Kong on the subject of the proposal to expropriate
certain Chinese owners of property in Kowloon City.
2. Sir John Simon is advised that there are three
possible grounds on which it could be argued that the
present and future exercise by His Majesty's Government
of jurisdiction in Kowloon City is justified. In the
first place it might be possible to establish that the
exercise of Chinese jurisdiction is still inconsistent
with the military requirements for the defence of Hong Kong.
Sir John Simon however is not aware to what extent support
could be found in local conditions for this argument.
Alternatively it might be argued that paragraph 3 of the
Convention of 9th June, 1898, did not require a continuing
state of necessity for British jurisdiction on grounds of
military requirements but that, the original assumption
of jurisdiction being clearly justified, His Majesty's
Government were thenceforward entitled to continue to
exercise that jurisdiction. It seems however doubtful
whether on the strict wording of paragraph 3 this argument
could be established. The third ground is that a
prescriptive right has been established for the exercise of
British
тип
The Under Secretary of State,
Colonial Office.
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