CO537-3712 — Page 10

(1)

53687/48.

(7) on 54145/46.

(7) & (10)

on

54145/46

CONSIDERATION OF DEVELOPMENT POLICY

IS MU. TRRITORIES

(previous discussion)

1. In April 1946 Mr. Bevin sent Mr. Hall a long Note

prepared in the Foreign Office entitled "The future of Hong Kong".

This Note considered the advantages and disadvantages of making

various degrees of concession to the Chinese up to and

including complete rendition of the whole Colony. In paragraph 40,

which considers retrocession of the New Territories coupled with

retention of the ceded areas, the point is made that certain

safeguards would be desirable - it is noted that these would

probably have to include "an Anglo-Chinese joint board of

management of the airfield" (which at that date meant Kai Tak)

"and for the Hong Kong water storage and supply system, which

is situated in the New Territories, and a joint municipal board

for the urban district of the New Territories adjoining the

British portion of Kowloon".

2.

Copies of this Note went for comment to H.E.M.'s Ambassador,

Nanking (Sir Horace Seymour) and on 10 May 1946 to Sir Mark Young

(i.e. just after the resumption of Civil Government in Hong Kong).

Sir Mark Young replied on 7 June 1946. His commcntà on the

proposal to hand back the Now Teritories while retaining the

ceded areas was "it has to be considered whether there are any

safeguards which would make such an arrangement practicable. My

own opinion and that of those who know Hong Kong better than

I is that there are not. The frontier runs through a heavily built-up area and to revise the international boundary line in

its old position would involve every sort of inconvenience at

the best of times and unlimited possibilities of friction and

disturbance at times when rel tions were anything short of the

I think it just possible that joint management

best..

of the Kai Tak airfield could be satisfactorily arranged and also

a joint board of management for that part of our water-supply

which

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