CO129-544-14 Proposed public park in Kowloon- question of Chinese jurisdiction in city area 9-8-1933 - 9-8-1933 — Page 5

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On the 27th December, 1899 an

Order in Council was signed which revoked

Article 4 of the Order in Council of

20th October, 1898, and assimilated Kowloon

with the rest of the leased territory es far

as British administration was concerned.

We can therefore meet any claim by

the present Chinese Government on the

strength of the notification made to the

Chinese Government on the 30th May, 1899 by

the Foreign Office.

But there is another point where

the Chinese may seek firmer ground for a

protest: viz. the 6th paragraph of the

1898 Convention runs: -

"it is further understood that

there will be no expropriation or expulsion of

the inhabitants of the district included

within the extension, and that if land is

required for public offices, fortifications,

or the like official purposes, it shall be

bought at a fair price."

That 'understanding' of course

relates not only to the walled village of

Kowloon but to the whole leased territory, and

this would not be the first time that

villagers in the leased territory have been

displaced to make room for public works e.g.

the construction of the Shing Mun dam has

meant the clearing of villages in the Shing

Mun valley, and we can therefore point to

precedents