CO537-3706 — Page 44

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Dear Sir Hughe,

WAICHIA OPU

THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA

NANKING

7 26/6/221/11

May 1st, 1937.

I have received your letter of April 26th regarding the

Kowloon case and feel most thankful to you for the information

with which you have furnished me on the subject.

You will recall that in my previous letter addressed to

you on this question, I invited your attention to two important

points, one the advisability or inadvisability of carrying out to

its fullest extent the plan of expropriation as conceived by the

Hongkong Government, and the other the question of jurisdiction

over the City of Kowloon, concerning which the contention of the

Chinese Government, it must be admitted, is well founded on

treaty provisions.

However justifiable, from the sanitary and

the aesthetic point of view, the action of the Hongkong

authorities might be in evicting the Chinese residents and

planning to turn the site in question into a public park, it

cannot but be regretted that these authorities have lost sight of

the importance of the juridical phase of the question vis-a-vis the

Chinese Government. The failure on the part of the Hongkong

Government in paying due regard to the claim of the Chinese

Government seems to have strengthened the arguments of those who

have raised the strongest opposition to the scheme.

I am inclined to think that in dealing with matters of

this kind it is always advantageous to use a certain amount of

tact and discretion and especially to take into consideration the

feelings of the local inhabitants so as to avoid any unpleasant

situation that may otherwise arise. Quite aside from and without

prejudice to the question of jurisdiction over the Kowloon City, I therefore request you to be so good as to advise the Hongkong

anthorities to defer the full prosecution of their plan in- definitely and give more careful and thorough consideration to the matter in the light of the views expressed by all parties concerned

Sincerely yours,

(signed)

HSU MO