SAVINORAM
To the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
From the Governor, Hong Kong.
27th September, 1949.
Date
No. 132
SECRET
SECRET
62
Mr. Wallace's letter reference 54064/48 of 6th December, 1949 to Mr. MacDougall regarding the alleged right of Chinese to enter Hong Kong.
2. In connection with the recent Expulsion of Undesirables Ordinance 1949, Mr. T.W.Kwok, Chinese Special Commissioner for Foreign Affairs for Kwangtung and Kwangsi recently left with me an Aide Memoire, the relevant portion of which is enclosed herewith. It will be observed that the Chinese Government holds the view that the Peking Convention of 1898 guarantees the right of free ingress and egress to Chinese to and from Hong Kong.
3. The opinion of the Legal Advisers of the Colonial Office on this question, which was enclosed with Mr. Wallace's letter 54064/48 of 12th October, 1948, to Mr. MacDougall and with which the Foreign Office have expressed general agreement, reaches the conclusion that the Chinese have no right, prescriptive or otherwise, to enter or settle in Hong Kong. I note however that the Memorandum by the Colonial Office Legal Advisers does not deal at all with any alleged right derived from the 1898 Convention. I should be grateful if, in the light of Mr. T.W.Kwok's Aide Memoire, this point could be examined.