ECONOMIST
24 JAN 1948
Anti-British Kots in China
Anti-British riots in Canton and Shanghai have a prewar savour of the kind which even the most nostalgic reminiscence
of the twenties cannot welcome. It is indeed discouraging that, after all the British renunciations of treaty rights in China, it should be so easy for agitators to whip up anti-British feeling in Chinese mobs. But it is also discouraging that nothing has been done until now from the British side to settle the long-standing legal dispute out of which this humiliating trouble has arisen. China has not since the war challenged the British right to Hong- kong itself, which, together with a small area of the opposite mainland, is held by Britain in full sovereignty. Nor has there been a direct challenge to British administration of the leased. territory on the mainland, though China has been inclined to claim certain residual rights in the leasehold area which are in conflict with administrative policies.
The small old walled town of Kowloon, however-not to be confused with the well-known city of Kowloon opposite Victoria -is a special case. By the treaty of 1898, this town, though within the borders of the Leased Territory, remained under Chinese civil administration. But in the following year, by an Order-in-Council, it was placed under British administration and the Chinese officials were expelled. The British case is that the behaviour of these officials was incompatible with the Chinese undertaking in the same treaty not to interfere with British measures for the military defence of the Leased Territory. It is questionable, however, whether an international treaty can thus be unilaterally abrogated by an Order-in-Council, and the Chinese have never recognised the validity of the British action. Shortly before the war the Chinese Foreign Minister of the time made it clear that China continued to regard British administration in Kowloon as a usurpation. It was, therefore, only to be expected that a crisis would occur sooner or later over the issue in the unstable postwar situation, and it would have been a wise act of policy if, when Britain resumed control of Hongkong in 1945, Kowloon had been handed back to Chinese administration. Bu this was not done, and last week the eviction of Chinese squatters in the ruins for the Japanese destroyed the place during the war -provided the occasion for serious anti-British riots.
The nationalist excitement has no doubt been inflamed by certain politicians with ulterior motives, and the British Govern- ment cannot but protest strongly at the failure of the authorities to protect the Consulate in Canton. Nevertheless, an effort should be made without delay to clear up the legal dispute over Kowloon. It seems eminently suitable for reference to the International Court of Justice. Britain and China would together set an example to the world by prompt, honest and amicable submission of such a case to an impartial tribunal.
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