INWARD TELEGRAM
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES
Cypher (0.7. P.)
FROM LONG KONG (31Y A. Grantham)
D. 7th December, 1947 R. 7th
09.00 hrs.
IMPORTANT
No. 1859.Secret..
Addressed to the B. of §.
YAD32 Vard
to fanking,
No.203.
辈来
by savingram to Consul-General,Canton.
erectill in (4) here..
& Cowl City, The an sikit
Your telegram No.1094 of 1946.
Kowloon Walled City,
A new agitation about Kowloon Walled City is brewing.
Immediate cause for this is that for reasons of public health and danger of fire, Public Works Department on 27th November served eviction notices on some 3 wooden huts which had bean illegally erected on Crown Land within the area of the former Walled City in the past few months (old wall was pulled down by the Japanese and no longer exleta). Date of explay of notices is 11th December,1947. Number of persons involved is probably between 500 and 1,000, although the Chinese press claims that as many as 2,000 involved. As far as can be ascertained, nono of these resided thero previously, and they cannot be regarded as having an original claim to the land. Further bute aro being put up and offered for rental by people exploiting
the situation,
2. Mr. T.W. Kwok came to see me on 29th November regarding an earlier case of a but on this land which arose in October. He saw me again on 2nd Decembor and I informed him that we regarded. the land in Kowloon City as Crown (and and proposed to proceed accordingly by continuing with the serving of notices. Mr. Kwok then said this involved a matter of principle, since Goverument does not recognise Kowloon Olty as Crown Land, He added that he was proceeding to Nauking on 4th December and that he would take the matter up thero,
ais
3.
Meanwhile Chinese representative has taken up the matter vigorously and the familiar arguments brought out last year that Kowloon City is under Chinese sovereignty under the Peking convention, 1898, are being repeated. At the same time, squatters inside the city have formed a Kowloon-City Residental Association and they have sent a delegation to Kwok's office to present a petition and they are also petitioning the District Magistrate of Po on (the district which adjoine the Colony's land frontier). They have also sunounced that a Press Conference will be held today, though it is not known where it will take place. A public demonstration is also scheduled for 11th December,
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