TNAG-0776-FCO40-980-Kowloon-Walled-City-and-aircraft-safety-in-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 22

Footnotes

(1) Pera. 4: Laws of Hong Kong, Vol. 20 App. IV 11. The Chinese

version of this Article (Lai Chun Wai, A Centenary History of Hong Kong, 86) reads as follows:

又議定,所有現在九龍城之中國官員,仍可在城

內各司其事,惟不得與保衛香港之武有所防礙。其

餘新租之地,專篩英國管幣,至九龍向通路,

中國官民照常行走,又讓定仍附近九龍城原舊碼頭

·區,以便中國兵商各船艇,任便往來停泊,且便

城內官民任便行走。

(2) Para. 5: Eastern No. 66, Extension of the Boundaries of the Colony,

Colonial Office, England, Nov. 1900.

(3) Para. 5: According to S. Lockhart in his confidential report of

8th October,1898 (Ibid, p. 52), the Chinese officials then stationed within the City could be divided into the Civil and Military; the civil being the Deputy Magistrate who had the power to make arrests and to conduct enquiries and the military, the Colonel Commanding who looked after a garrison of 544. Thus, according to Article IV the Chinese Government had the right to exercise military and civil jurisdiction through these two officials.

The Chinese army was not much of a threat to British security then, although, according to S. Lockhart in his confidential report, continued stationing of Chinese troops within the City would be unnecessary and in contravention to the Convention stipulations. However, he calculated that since British Government would be looking after the law and order as well as the defence of Hong Kong, the Chinese troops would become redundant and would automatically withdraw from the City and so would the Chinese officials. Consequently, Lockhart and the British Government felt fairly safe about the Article, being confident that the Chinese government would never exercise its "right".

(4) Para. 6: Peter Wesley-Smith, "The Walled City of Kowloon: Historical

and Legal Aspects" in Hong Kong Law Journal (1973), Vol. 3,

No. 1, 80-81.