CO129-503-2 Tenure of new territories in view of Chinese situation 19-1-1927 - 8-8-1928 — Page 5

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in South China would be to annex the New Territories as

part of the Colony. He recognised, however, that this

policy could hardly be decided in advance, but would have

to be considered in the light of circumstances prevailing at

the time.

In the meantime, there were two points on which

he desired guidance from the Secretary of State: -

(1)

In view of the fact that the "ew Territories were

only leased from China, and that the lease had only 69

more years to run, was he in order in devoting to their

development the maximum o the Colony's funds which could be

made available for the purpose?

(2) The ordinary form of lease granted by the Hong Kong

Government was for 75 years, renewable. The lease of the

New Territories would expire in 69 years. Would it be

possible for him to grant leases in the New Territories in

the ordinary form or would he have to grant them only for

the unexpired period of the lease from China?

In developing these points Sir. Clementi

emphasized that the New "erritories were vital to Hong Kong

not only from the defence point of view (which indeed is

recognised in the Convention itself), but also from the

necessities of daily life. For instance, not only had

the aerodrome been placed in the "ew Territories, but the

would soon be Colony was largely dependent on the latter for an adequate

water supply. Moreover, Hong Kong itself was so limited

in area and had become so congested that it had become

increasingly dependent on the New Territories for

expansion, thus necessitating a continuous programe of

public works and public buildings in the leased area.

Sir .lementi also made a point which I had not heard made

before, namely, that the New Territories possessed several

magnificent