(FC 10112/53)
CONFIDENTIAL
RECE MED
3 JUL 1950 COLONIAL OFFICE
18
FOREIGN OFFICE,S.W.1.
30th June, 1950.
15
13
Dear Hall
Please refer to your letter 53848/50 of the 20th June, concerning Hong Kong territorial waters.
2.
You mention that, as the Governor points out in his Savingram No.57 of the 2nd June, an area to the South East no longer comes within the territorial waters of Hong Kong as charted by the Admiralty Hydrographer while an area to the South West, which previously appeared from the "old square boundary" shown on the map attached to the 1898 Sino- British Convention to be outside British territorial waters, is now clearly inside them. From this you go on to support the Governor's argument that the area to the South West should now be actively patrolled by police, as opposed to naval, launches in order to establish our right to these waters,
+1
and to ensure that the Communists, who are in the process of occupying the neighbouring islands, are not left with the impression
that the area concerned is outside our jurisdiction.
3. As I told you over the telephone a day or two ago, we fully appreciate the Governor's point of view, and we realise that it is desirable to establish
our
/rights...
H.P.Hall, Esq., M.B.E.,
COLONIAL OFFICE.