FOREIGN OFFICE, S.W.1.
2nd April, 1948.
∙210
(4323/154/10)
246
Restricted
53821/42
Pr. I
•
Dear Marle
20
Thank you for your letter (54145/16/48) of the 19th March about the Walled City of Kowloon. sorry that the answer has been somewhat delayed.
I am
2.
I have asked our Legal Advisers to make arrangements for yours to see our submission to the Law Officers in draft form.
3. Pending receipt of the Law Officers' opinion, there is of course no question of saying anything to the Chinese about submission to the International Court. Moreover, it is possible that your suggested text will require some amendment as a result of their opinion.
4. As regards paragraph 4 of your letter, it was originally intended in 1942 to have an exchange of notes with the Chinese in which we would undertake to reconsider the question of the lease of the New Territories "when victory is won" (Chungking telegram No. 1746 of 30th December 1942), but eventually the Chinese agreed not to raise it in connexion with the Treaty (Chungking telegram No. 1753 of 31st December 2/42 1942), and no exchange of notes on this subject was
signed. You will have seen from Nanking telegram No. 276 of the 18th March that the Embassy suggest that the Chinese might attempt to bring in the whole question of the New Territories and Hong Kong itself, under paragraph 4 of the Annex to the Exchange of Notes
We ourselves do not appended to the 1943 Treaty.
247 on
13821
ft.
Behind (70) 53821/43
N.L. Mayle Esq.,
think
Colonial Office. ice.
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