CO537-3702 — Page 123

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9. I know nothing beyond press reports of the

recent Kowloon City squatters agitation; but it at least

points to the vital necessity, when dealing with China,

of always looking two moves ahead. The absurdity of

leaving this enclave (with, I think, access to the harbour

and a right of way to Sai Kung) should have been seen before

the lease was signed. When this absurdity was made manifest

it would surely have been better to negotiate rather than to

proceed by way of a unilateral Order in Council from London

followed by a march in by the local Volunteers.

It was

partly to black out these memories that it was decided, in

the nineteen-thirties, to leave only the ancient walls

standing and to turn almost the whole of the interior

into a public park, settling the surviving inhabitants

in the neighbourhood.

10. Forecasts are dangerous, but it is at least

probable that, fifty years hence, the Lease will expire.

The fine old knightly motto "JE MAINTIENDRAI" is not very

fashionable these days, particularly in Asia. My only

suggestion is that, at the appropriate moment in the

next five or ten years, this apparently inevitable

moment might be worth anticipating.

11. There are a large number of other problems which

will have to be faced when the time comes; roads, railway,

police stations and other Government buildings, the

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