CO129-501-5 Chinese situation- Recognition of Canton Government 22-7-1927 - 28-9-1927 — Page 48

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well being, if not the very existence, of the

Colony:

(1). The permanent attachment of the New

Territories to the Colony. We have recently been

assured that there is no intention on the part of

His Majesty's Government of "surrendering Hong Kong

or abandoning or diminishing in any way its rights or

authority in any part of the adjacent mainland

territories under British administration". But that

is not sufficient. Less than one-third of our lease

has expired and already, thanks to the "pax Britannica"

and all that it implies, the greater part of New

Kowloon has become one urban area with its older

and more "permanent" neighbour. The whole water-

supply of the Kowloon peninsula lies in the leased

area and surely and steadily money, public and

private, is being invested there. The retrocession

of the New Territories even at the termination of

the lease would imperil the very existence of

Hong Kong and Kowloon. Conceive the position that

would exist in London, if all the territory north of Oxford Street belonged to an alien power.

(2). The construction of a loop-line railway at Canton to connect the Kowloon-Canton with the Canton-

Hankow Railways is a matter of vital importance to the future of this Colony. Je suggest that the money for this project should be set aside from the Boxer

Indemnity

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