To be retained on
on file.
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EXTRACT FROM BRIEF FOR PARLIAMENTARY
DELEGATION TO CHINA
CONFIDENTIAL
No.15. Status of Hong Kong.
The area administered by the Government of Hong Kong falls into three parts (i) the island of Hong Kong (ii) Kowloon peninsula (iii) the New Territories.
The island of Hong Kong was ceded to His Majesty's
Government by the Chinese Government as a result of the
first Anglo-Chinese war (1839-1842).
The Kowloon peninsula, a small area opposite the
island of Hong Kong on the mainland, was ceded by the'
Chinese Government as a result of the second Anglo-Chinese
war (1856-1860).
In 1898 His Majesty's Government obtained from
the Chinese Government, for the better defence of the
colony, a 99 year lease of an area to the north of the
Kowloon peninsula and of certain islands adjacent to
Hong Kong.
These are the New Territories.
The two ceded areas and the New Territories are
collectively known as the Crown Colony of Hong Kong.
Unofficial claims for the return of the colony to
China are made fairly frequently in the Chinese press,
and it is possible that the Delegation may be questioned
on the subject at press conferences or elsewhere.
this occurs the Delegation should reply that they
are not in a position to express an opinion on the subject.
The issue is not a live one at the moment, and any
statement by the Delegation might have undesirable
consequences.
If
The Delegation may however care to know for
their own background information that the island of
Hong Kong when ceded by the Chinese Government was a barren
isl
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