CONFIDENTIAL.
S
8/10/410.
SAVINGRAM
To:
Secretary of State for the Colonies
From:
Governor, Hong Kong
RECEIVE!
No:
Date: Repeated To:
17th September, 1946 Embassy, Nanking.Ng.
180 (9/3361/46)
23 SEP 1946
C. REG
1.
Articles have been appearing since 6th September in
certain Canton and Hong Kong vernacular newspapers to the effect
that the area within the city walls of Kowloon City is still subject
to Chinese jurisdiction and that the Chinese Government intends to
set up a Chinese civil administration there in the near future in
accordance with Chinese treaty rights. According to the reports,
which emanated from Canton, the proposal to set up a Chinese
administration in Kowloon City was first mooted by the Magistrate
of Po On District which is the District immediately adjacent to
and to the north of the New Territories and of which the New
Territories, before they were leased to Britain, originally formed
a part. I enclose translations of the newspaper articles in
question and also a copy of an official statement which I caused to
be published on September 15th in order that the inaccurate state-
ments as to the status of Kowloon City which were made in the articles
might be contradicted.
2.
Mr. T. W. Kwok, Commissioner for Kwangtung and Kwangsi,
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came to see me yesterday about
•
this matter. I enclose my record of our conversation and also an
account of it which has appeared in this morning's issue of the China
Mail, and which must have been given to the Press by Mr. Kwok himself.
You will see that Mr. Kwok informed me that the Chinese Government
had agreed to the Magistrate of Po On taking steps to establish an
adminis tration in Kowloon City and that he himself had received
instructions from his Government on the subject, although until
yesterday he made no approach to the Hong Kong Government. I will
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.