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10. Land owned by Chinese subjects within the new Settlement must pay the land-tax to the Chinese authorities. Should British subjects purchase land, the rent shall be paid in accordance with the Regulations prevailing at Shanghae, the amount being settled in an equitable manner. If it should be Government land, an equitably determined rent" must also be paid.
11. As England has consented to render effective assistance in matters connected with the customs revenue, the existing customs stations shall, as at present, be under the control of the Commissioner of Customs. This is on the same lines as the Regulation applying to Chinese officials within Kowloon city. Should any cases arise, he shall forthwith concert measures with the British officials, so that (the action taken) may be in accordance with England's expressed intention to afford effective assistance.
*This apparently refers to the ground rent paid to the Chinese Government by all landholders in Shanghae. The officials are furnished with particulars of this ground by the various Consulates each year.(Translator's note.)
INCLOSURE 4 IN No. 382.
Sir C. MacDonald to Tsung-li Yamên.
PEKING, September 20, 1898.
On the 10th instant I received the Yamen's despatch on the subject of the extension of Hong Kong, quoting a despatch of the Governor-General of Canton, and inclosing Regulations for the loan of the district in question.
I have the honour to observe that on the 9th June last, an Agreement for the extension of the territory of the Colony of Hong Kong was entered into by our respective Governments, in which all relevant matters were included in clear detail
It is, therefore, out of the question that the Governor-General of Canton should be permitted to draw up Regulations for the loan of his district. His action is quite uncalled for, and his Regulations are unworthy of consideration.
With regard to the definition of the boundary, the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Stewart Lockhart, has already inspected the district, and has returned to England to present his report. When Her Majesty's Government deputes an officer to define the boundary, the Chinese Government will be requested to send an official to co-operate with him.
(Signed)
CLAUDE M. MACDONALD,
MY LORD,
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No. 389.
China Association to the Marquess of Salisbury.
LONDON, November 14, 1898.
The announcement that Her Majesty's Minister had obtained the consent of the Chinese Government to an extension of British Kowloon was received with general and cordial satisfaction. Certain important strategical points which had been felt to constitute & menace to the safety of Hong Kong have been brought under control; the sense of confinement has been relieved, and a prospect of relief from the constriction and espionage of the Chinese Customs has been opened up.
The Agreement is couched, however, in general terms which leave much to be subsequently defined; and communications received from the Hong Kong branch of this Association express anxiety in regard to the conclusions that may be reached.
Disappointment is felt, for instance, at the retention of Chinese jurisdiction in the City
of Kowloon. That town and its suburbs have been a source of inconvenience to the Colony for many years, and hopes were entertained of bringing the whole area under police and sanitary control. The annoyance will undoubtedly be reduced, however, by obtaining control over the suburbs;
and the Committee trust that it will be found possible to exert beneficent pressure within the walls.
The demands which have been put forward by the Customs authorities under cover of our promise to co-operate in safe-guarding the Chinese revenue, inspire more serious apprehension. That apprehension is probably exaggerated, because the pretensions of the Customs authorities appear inadmissible; but there can be no doubt that it would be shared by every member of the Association if it were thought possible that they could be entertained.
The question is one of long-standing. Complaints of interference by the Chinese revenue-cruisers with the junk trade had been so persistent that cognizance was taken of the fact in the Chefoo Convention (1876) in the following terms:-
"The Governor of Hong Kong having long complained of the interference of the Canton Customs revenue-cruisers with the junk trade of that Colony, the Chinese Government agrees to the appointment of a Commission, to consist of a British Consul, an officer of the Hong Kong Government, and a Chinese official of equal rank, in order to the establishment of some system that shall enable the Chinese Government to protect its revenue without prejudice to the interests of the Colony."
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