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Printed for the use of the Colonial Office. November 12, 1896.
SECRET.
No. 85 M.
HONG KONG.
Extension of Boundaries.
324
45
cret
36
Memorandum by the Colonial Defence Committee.
(For the consideration of Her Majesty's Government.)
IN their Memorandum No. 74 M, dated the 12th October, 1896, on the subject of Colonial Garrisons, the Colonial Defence Committee stated :-
"A slight increase would suffice to the garrison of Hong Kong, provided the dlanger which at present exists, owing to the north shore of the Lyemun Pass being under. Chinese jurisdiction, be removed. The defence of Hong Kong involves the blocking of that pass, and, in certain possible eventualities, the occupation of the heights on the northern shore commanding it and the shore south of it. Such action, under present conditions, might be taken as a casus belli by China, and a very large garrison would be required if an attack by that Power had to be guarded against at the same time as an attack by a European maritime nation. There are other reasons which make the acquisition of additional territory at Hong Kong a question of vital importance, and the Committee propose to deal with it in a separate Memorandum."
2. The proposal to extend the boundaries of the Colony of Hong Kong On the 9th has frequently been before Her Majesty's Government. December last the Foreign Office informed the Colonial Office that as soon as the questions relating to the Burmah Convention were settled a communi- cation would be addressed to the Chinese Government inquiring whether they would grant a perpetual lease to this country of the territory required on payment of its value. This action was decided on in consequence of Report No. XVII of the Joint Naval and Military Committee on Defence, dated the 18th May, 1895, which advocated an extension and readjustment of the frontier on naval and military grounds, and which was approved by the Secretary of State for War and the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
3. It is unnecessary to recapitulate here the strategical reasons which led to the recommendation of the Joint Naval and Military Committee. The question of an extension of territory came before the Colonial Defence Committee as bearing on the sufficiency or otherwise of the garrison, and from this point of view it was evident that the portion of the garrison which could be allotted for the defence of British Kowloon was far below what it ought to be, while a populous and turbulent city remained under lax Chinese jurisdiction within 2 miles of the coast batteries at East and West Kowloon and of the valuable property contained in the naval depôt and at the docks.
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PUBLIC RECORD.OFFICE
TEPELEC.O.587
Reference :-
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