8.
authorities of Hongkong, I beg to refer to their decision
of most recent date, as mentioned in the Ministry's memorandum
of November 28, that the evacuation should be completed by the
end of the year. As to the alleged acceptance by the inhabi-
tants of the terms offered by the Governor, it is at least
open to doubt in view of the petitions they addressed repeat-
edly both to this Ministry and to our Commissioner at Canton,
imploring protection of their legitimate interests.
With regard to treaty stipulations, it will be
readily seen, even after a cursory examination of the Convention
of June 9, 1898, that the measures contemplated by the Hongkong
Covernment are irreconcilable with the provisions of the said
Convention, as it is clearly not within the competance of
British Authorities to exercise jurisdiction in the city of
Kowloon which is expressly reserved for the Chinese officials.
On the part of the colonial authorities, it might be
contended that their assumption of jurisdiction was based on
the Order in Council of Tecember 27, 1899 declaring the city
or Kowloon to be part and parcel of the Colony of Hongkong.
Without delving into the argument that the exercise of juris-
diction by the Chinese officials in the city of Kowloon was
inconsistent with the military requirements for the defence of
Hongkong and the circumstances under which the Chinese officials!
were ousted from the said city and control over it was taken
by the British Government notwithstanding the repeated protests
of the Chinese Government, I cannot resist the conclusion that
the Order in Council referred to does not seem to rest on suf-
ficient legal grounds in the light of the Sino-British
Convention of 1898.
At a time when Sino-British friendship is daily
increasing and the relations of the local authorities at Canton
/ with
b