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From the date when the Convention was made,
there was not any great change in Kowloon City eni
until Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese
during the second world war. At the present time t
the city is virtually a ruin, the city wall having
been largely demolished by the Japanese in 1942.
Only two buildings remain; a school which is
in a dilapidated condition and a home for aged
women.
It is in relation to the then state of affairs
as so described that the expression in the
provision in question "Within the City of Kowloon
the Chinese officials now stationed there shall
continue to exercise jurisdiction" has to be
construed. Attached to the Convention there
was a map showing the leased territory, which
includes the territory on which Kowloon City
stands, no distinction in that respect being made
in the marking of the map between the rest of
the leased territory and Kowloon City,
It seems, having regard to the state of
affairs which subsisted at the time when the
words quoted were used, that it is impossible to
construe them otherwise than as providing that
the jurisdiction then exercised by Chinese
officials should continue to remain vested in the
Chinese authorities. The words quoted clearly
cannot refer only to the actual individual officials
then alive, and must, it is thought, be intended
to describe the extent of the jurisdiction then
exercised. This jurisdiction was complete in
the sense that it extended over the whole area
of Kowloon City and applied to all the
inhabitants, military and civilian, then in
Kowloon City. It makes no difference that it
was largely military in character, as it is
thought that the expression "Chinese officials"
/must