(3589/154/10)
Restricted
FOREIGN OFFICE, S.W.1.
8th March, 1948.
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пала,
The Chinese Ambassador and Minister came to see our Under Secretary of State on 5th March about Kowloon, Mr. Dening said to them that, judging from Nanking telegram No. 231 of 4th March, the Chinese were insisting upon raising the question of jurisdiction. We had not yet received the comments of the Governor of Hong Kong on these latest Chinese proposals and, since the question of jurisdiction appeared to have been revived, we were consulting our Legal Advisers. We were not therefore in a position to offer any official comment.
2. From the subsequent conversation it became clear that the Chinese feel that we raised the question of jurisdiction by insisting that the laws of Hong Kong colony should apply to the Garden of Remembrance. This has drawn their attention to what would happen if in fact an offence is committed by Chinese in the Garden. They claim that, while the offender would be arrested by the Hong Kong police, he should be handed over for trial to a Chinese court in Chinese territory. They quote the state of affairs which existed in the British Concession in Tientsin before the abolition of extraterritoriality as a parallel.
3. The Ambassador sought to secure acceptance of the Chinese proposal that either a section of the Garden should be set aside for an office for the Special Commissioner of Foreign Affairs or the
N.L. Mayle Esq.,
Colonial Office.
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