TNAG-1839-FCO40-2614-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 58

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In Confidence

FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF ENQUIRY INTO HONG KONG

MEMORANDUM ON HONG KONG

I.

Background to the negotiation of the Joint

Declaration

Enclosures flag(s).

1. Under the Treaty of Nanking (1842) and the

Convention of Peking (1860), Hony Kong Island, the

southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters

Island were ceded to Britain in perpetuity. The rest of

the territory of Hong Kong (comprising 92% of the total

land area) was leased to Britain for 99 years from 1 Jul

1898 under a second Convention signed in Peking in that

year. This leased area, consisting of the area north of

Kowloon up to the Shenzhen River and 235 adjacent

islands, is known as the New Territories.

2. The Chinese Government have always taken the view