TRANSLATION
London's Views on the Kowloon Problem
Still not Changed even After the
Receipt of our reply.
(From our special correspondent in London)
February 7th.
Ta Kung Pao, Shanghai, 8th February.
18
The responsible British authorities recently made the following unofficial comments on the Chinese reply regarding the Kowloon incident; - "The fact that the Chinese Government attaches importance to the question of jurisdiction in that city and not to the question of administration is considered strange in London. Actually since the year 1899 the inhabitants of Kowloon have never been under the jurisdiction of the Chinese law courts and during the period between 1899 and 1933 the ownership and administrative rights of Great Britain in Kowloon were never questioned. 1933 the Chinese Government did bring up certain problems for discussion with Great Britain but these were shelved in 1937. Between 1937 and 1946 therefore, Britain's position in Kowloon was unchallenged."
In
This British critic seems to have forgotten two things:- (1) the question raised by the Chinese Government were shelved in 1937 because af the Sino-Japanese war broke out in that year and the Chinege Government had no further time to devote to the problem of Howloon and (2) between 1937 and 1946 no objections were raised regarding Britain's position in Kowloon because from December 1941 to 1945 there was no British Government in Hong Kong. They had already surrendered to the Japanese.
The unofficial spokesman continued: "China has attempted to shift the responsibility for this matter on to the Government of Hong Kong and, at the same time, she did not mention anything about the Canton incident in her reply. She cannot evade her responsibility in this matter and the fact that China has expressed no regret regarding the attack on the British Consulate General by hooligans has caused some surprise in London."
This spokesman emphasized that his views are not official; official comment can only be published when the Foreign Office have sent their reply. It is possible that the British reply will be sent next week.
The question of jurisdiction is the main point at issue in the Kowloon dispute and the problem of administra- tion can only be discussed when the problem of jurisdiction has been solved. Chinese residents in London are surprised that the responsible British authorities have still failed to appreciate this point.