CONFIDENTIAL
In March 1963, an authoritative article in the official People's Daily of
8 March expounded for the first time in such a clear way the CPG's attitude
towards Hong Kong. The article recalls the CPG's declaration of 29 September
1949 that the treaties concluded by earlier Chinese governments would be
examined and that they would be recognised, abrogated, revised or re-negotiated
according to the circumstances. It added:
"Such questions as those of Hong Kong and Fiacao relate to the category of unequal treaties left over by history"
and went on:
"As a matter of fact, many of these treaties concluded in the past either have lost their validity, or have been abrogated or have been replaced by new ones. With regard to the outstanding issues, which are a legacy from the past, we have always held that, when conditions are ripe, they should be settled peacefully through negotiations and that, pending a settlement, the status quo should be maintained. Within this category are the questions of Hong Kong, Kowloon and Macao
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5. The summer of 1967, when Mao's Cultural Revolution spilled over into Hong
Kong, marked the lowest ebb in relations between China and Hong Kong since 1949.
Although the disturbances and riots, which posed a serious challenge to the
authorities, were almost certainly inspired by local extremists rather than upon
direction from Peking, the Chinese Government (itself split between rival
factions) lent its support to the local radicals. On 20 August, People's Daily
published an authoritative "commentator" article which made the explicit
assertion:
"Hong Kong has been Chinese territory from time immemorial".
On 24 June 1967, Premier Zhou Enlai pledged China's support for the "struggle in
Hong Kong". Speaking at a banquet for President Kaunda of Zambia, he said
...
"Hong Kong and Kowloon have always been China's territory The destiny of Hong Kong will be decided by our patriotic countrymen in Hong Kong and the 700 million Chinese people and definitely not by a handful of British imperialists".
6. However, Chinese "confrontation" with the authorities in Hong Kong led to
no direct claim for the return of Hong Kong as a whole or of the leased
territories. Since that period, Chinese policy has reflected an increasing
CONFIDENTIAL
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