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E.
34
FROM:
British Embassy, Chungking.
TO:
Foreign Office, London P.L. No. 876 (4/342/44) of 14th
August, 1944.
SUBJECT: Chinese Press on future of Hongkong.
Shih Yu Ch'ao (Time and Tide).
The latest number of this fortnightly (dated July 16th but just out) has an article on "the road to peace in the Pacific". It says that if Honkong and Macao are not returned to China the restoration of Chinese territory can not be considered complete, and the status of these two places must be settled if future disagreements are to be avoided. The Dritish government does not seem ready to give up the Kowloon leased territory. The osten- sible purpose of this lease was to protect Hongkong and to offset the power of France who a month earlier has leased Kwangchowan. Kowloon for a long time in common with other leased territories has been a great injury to China's rights. And its surrender to the Japanese after less than two weeks shows it cannot defend itself.
When the leased territories are returned, the railways built by foreign governments on Chinese territory for the purpose of agression ought to be given back. Obvious examples are the South Manchuria nailway and the land near it and that part of the Yunnan- Indo-China Railway inside Chinese territory. When the Soviets sold the Chinese Eastern Railway to Manchukuo' in 1934, respon- sible Soviet authorities replied to Chinese. protests by explain- ing that when China recovered Manchuria Russia would retain no rights in the railway. In other words, Russia has abandoned the Chinese astern Railway to China while Japan has paid the bill,
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