FO371-46256 — Page 29

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Ta Kung Pao, Chungking.

August 30, 1945.

The Ta Kung Pao completely endorsed the policy of the Chinese Goverment in not taking over the control of Hongkong so as to avoid misunderstanding between China and Great Britain, and hailed it as a "gentlemanlike attitude" and the "traditional morality of the Chinese people in placing righteousness before material gain. 11

"In fact", the paper said, "the value of Hongkong should be re-appraised." After the war, the paper opined, Hongkong will be unimportant both as a naval base and as a commercial port.

"Even so", the paper continued, "China will not ask for. the return of Hongkong by illegal channels, since it was a leased territory and is therefore an affair of exclusively British concern. What we will mention now is not Hongkong but Kowloon." The Ta Kung Pao then reviewed how the old and new territories of Kowloon were permanently leased or conceded to Great Britain under an unequal treaty,

and said that they should be restored to China. "Otherwise,"

"the paper pointed out, "it will become a loophole in the existing Sino-British friendship.

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Concluding the paper said: "We believe the foreign policy of the British Labour Government will be idealistic and put emphasis on righteousness. If so, the question of the Kowloon concession will he easily solved; and not only Kowloon, but Hongkong as well can be

rationally settled.

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