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CHAPTER SEVEN: The China Factor
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C H A P T E R S E V E N THE CHIN A FACTO R a. Chines e Representation i n Hong Kong AftertheofficesoftheGovernorofHongKongandthePlenipotentiaryan d SuperintendentofChinaTradewereseparatedin1859,thequestionofwha t kindo fcontac tHon gKon gshoul dmaintai nwit hth eChines eauthoritie s emerged.Atth ediplomati clevel ,aformalchanne lwa sestablishe dwit h theappointmen to fa Britis hMiniste rt oth eCour ti nPeking ,whichwa s laterfollowedb ythesendingofaChineseMinistertotheCourtofStJames inLondon.FormalcommunicationsbetweenthegovernmentsofHongKon g andChinawouldbehandledthroughtheusualdiplomaticchannels,whic h ist osa ythroug hth eBritis hgovernmen ti nLondon ,an dth eBritis han d Chinesediplomat sstatione di neac hother' scapital .Atth eloca llevel ,i n accordancewit hth egenera lpractic ei ninternationa lrelations ,theusua l arrangementwoul db efortheChinesegovernmentt ob erepresentedb ya ConsulorConsul-Generali nHongKong,dependingonhowmanyinterest s theChinesehadthere.Thesubjectwasfirstraisedin1868,whentheChinese governmentsuggeste dthataChineseofficialb eallowedtobestationedi n HongKon gt ocollec tcusto mduties .I twa sno ta proposa lt oestablis h consularrepresentation .Nevertheles sth eBritis hMiniste ri nChina ,Si r RutherfordAlcock,respondedbysuggestingthattheChineseshouldsenda consult oHon gKong . Eversincethequestionofconsularrepresentationwasraised,theHon g Konggovernmenthadstronglyresistedsuchanarrangementalmostwithou t interruption.Th eground sfo rHon gKong' sobjectio nar eexplaine di n documentVII.albelow. 1 Theyremaine dessentiallythesamefortheres tof century,exceptduringthetenureofSirGeorgeBowe nasGovernor(1883 87 ).Bowe nsa wn oobjectio nt osuc ha nappointment ,bu tn oon ewa s appointedastheChinesedidno tpursuetheissueduringhisgovernorship. 272 GovernmentandPolitics Itwasseveralyear slater ,i n1891 ,whenth eChinesegovernmenttookth e matterfurtherandnamedaconsularofficial,TsoP'ing-lung,fortheposition. InresponsetotheHongKonggovernment'sobjections,theBritishimpose d acondition,namel ytha tTso'sappointmentwoul db eonlyforon eyea ri n thefirs tinstance ,an dh ewoul db erecalle dshoul dth eBritis hfin dhi m unsatisfactory.I nth eend ,th eChines egovernmen tdi dno tmak eth e appointmentbecaus etheBritis hconditionwa sunacceptable . DOCUMENT Vll.al : Governo r R.G . MacDonnel l t o Secretar y Lor d Granville , dispatch 701 , 12 May 186 9 (source : F0881/9723) (extracts ) I hav e th e honou r t o acknowledg e receip t o f Your Lordship's despatch No.3 6 covering copy of a letter from the Foreign Office transmittin g a correspondence betwee n Prince Kung [of the Chinese Tsungli Yamen] and Sir Rutherford Alcock , Her Majesty' s Minister i n China , fro m whic h i t appear s tha t Princ e Kun g ha d suggeste d th e appointment b y the Chines e governmen t 'o f Officials t o reside at Hong Kong for th e express purpose of attending to the collection of duties in the interest of the (Chinese ) Customs Revenue' . 2. Th e Princ e gives as a reason for this extraordinary reques t that th e suppose d facilities afforde d b y the formation o f the neighbouring coas t for smuggling were suc h that 'vessel s wer e constantl y evadin g th e paymen t o f dutie s...