Finally, I am advised that if in practice jurisdiction has in the past been exercised outside the normal limits of territorial waters it would be difficult to justify amending the Ordinance in the manner suggested.
This is
no doubt one of the points which you will wish to ask the Governor to comment on when you put the matter to him.
It is certainly a pity that we should have to change our position as regards the limits of Hong Kong's territorial waters at this late date and at this juncture, but as the position taken in the Ordinance appears to make our interpretation of the 1898 Convention very difficult to defend, I feel that on the whole the quicker we get away from that position the better. I am sure you will agree that the sooner and more unostentatiously any action that is to be taken can be completed the better for all concerned, and I hope that you will see your way to asking the Governor to comment without loss of time.
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Yours sincerely.
ups. Comlinson
(F. S. Tomlinson)
Iling howm