CO129-267 - Governor Sir Robinson - 1895 [4-6] — Page 105

C. O.

on the subject of the necessity for

extending the boundaries of Hongkong.

I have the honour to

My Lord

be

Your Lordship's most obedient

humble Servant.

William Robinzsy

REC?

Prof 13 MAY 95

103

Honghong Telegraph.

9th April 1895

ARE WE SAFE?

The Home Government propose to spend a very considerable sum of money in im- proving the naval establishments in Hong- kong and the construction of docks is spoken of as one of the special works likely to be taken in hand at an early date. Well and good so far, but where are those docks to be constructed so that they shall be out of range of an enemy's guns in time of war? How can they be reasonably protected from capture and destruction by an enterprising enemy, and how are they to be defended? The whole range of hills on the mainland on the northern side of the harbour is Chinese territory. The water ways leading to it are half Chinese-to the mid channelline and in case of war, let us say by way of illustration, with Japan, would be neutral waters, and Japanese men-of-war might sail in under the guns of the Ly-ee-mun forts and "fetch up" where we have repeatedly seen the Chinese fleet at anchor, opposite Chinese Kowloon, and within a couple of miles of Hungham Docks and within gun-shot of every part of the harbour and yet be all the time in Chinese waters and, theoretically at least, entitled to lie there unmolested. of course, in case of war their passage through the Ly-ee-mun would be resisted and the channel closed by an effective torpedo defence and mines, "but we could not do that without violating the neutrality of China and either rendering her hostile or authorising our enemy to violate that neutrality also, to our serious disadvantage. The Ly-ee-mun Pass is not half a mile wide. The Ly-ee-mun Batteries might be successfully attacked and silenced from the hills on the Chinese side, which command the batteries, and which are easily accessible from Mirs Bay, to the

north. The entire south side of the island

of Hongkong is undefended and within easy distance to the south lies Lamma with deep bays and sheltered harbours under the protection of which hostile ships might assemble out of sight of any of our stations and from which a descent might be made on our shores before the pre-

sence of the e emy could be notified in town and men sent out to oppose a land- Ing. As far as modern artillery is con- cerned how many spots are there in Hongkong waters which are out of range of hostile fire from commanding positions on Chinese territory--hostile territory in the event of war with China, neutral térri- tory if we were at loggerheads with any other Power, but neutral territory which no enemy would under existing circum- stances hesitate to violate and utilize against us? China is unable and will be, for many years to come, unable to cause her neutrality to be respected.

In the event of war between any great naval power and ourselves-say with France, Russia, Germany, the United States or Japan-and any active operations being threatened against Hongkong, the occupation of Lamma Island to the south and of the opposite mainland to the north, or, of certain points on it, would be absolutely indispensible for the successful defence of the city and harbour; for its safety as a place to which our fleet could come to dock, refit and provision; and if this is so would it not be as well, before large sums of money are spent in making docks and increasing the naval establish- ments to meet the uncertain contingencies of war, to consider carefully whether Hongkong, with its present boundaries, would, in time of war, be a secure place for ships to dock and repair, and, if not, whether it would not be as well-while we may and can-to take or obtain possession of such more extended boundaries as would ensure us against all risk and of which we would most certainly take possession in case of war on the ples of absolutely necessary self-defence."

from attack while Lamma,

Hongkong is not even reasonably safe to the south, is in Chinese hands. Victoria Harbour is not a safe harbour while the hills opposite the Ly-ee-mun and at the back of Stonecutters' Island are open to and at the mercy ofan enterprising enemy at no greater risk than that of violating Chinese neutrality, and while an enemy's squadron might, till war was actually declared or warlike operations had actually commenced, lie at anchor in neutral waters within easy gun- shot of our arsenal and magazines. For many reasons, the time has come either for us to think seriously of extending our boundaries a little more widely, or make up our minds to forfeit our claim to the title of the "Malta and Gibraltar of the

East."