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(THIS DOCUMERS 94 93ROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJgfy
SECRET
C.P.(49) 120
COPY NO.
031
23RD MAY, 1949
CABINET
HONG KONG
Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies
On 9th May (C.M.(49) 33rd Conclusions, Minute 2(5)) the Cabinet asked me to circulate a factual appreciation of the present situation in Hong Kong for the information of my colleagues.
20
Facts about Hong Kong
(i) The Colony consists of (a) the island of Hong Kong (approximately 32 square miles), (b) part of the Kowloon Peninsula (approximately 3 square miles) and (c) the New Territories (approximately 359 square miles). A map is annexed. (a) and (b) were ceded outright to Great Britain by China in 1842 and 1860 respectively (c) was leased to Great Britain by China for 99 years in 1898 to meet the Colony's defence needs.
The length of the land frontier is 12 miles; that of
the sea frontier is approximately 200 miles.
(ii)
1,800,000.
Population
The estimated total population of Hong Kong is
The non-Chinese elements are as follows:-
British subjects (United Kingdom and
other Commonwealth countries)
British subjects of Portuguese race United States nationals
Dutch and Scandinavian
French
Other non-Asiatics
Indians
Filippinos
Stateless
6,500
3,000
250
200
100
500
2,000
200
200
Total ...
12, 950
(iii) When ceded to us Hong Kong was a barren rock. British enterprise has turned it into one of the most important and thriving ports and markets of the world. Even when conditions in China were at their best, it was a comparative haven of settled law and order where traders (not least among them the Chinese) could conduct their business and thrive as nowhere else in China, except in the treaty ports (especially, of course, Shanghai). This trade has been of great benefit not only to Europe and America, but also to China and to other countries of the Far East. The only stable basis for inter- national trade in the Far East has always been sterling.
The
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