Subject: Re: Born Again Enclaves
Date: Oct 05, 2004 @ 23:38
Author: L. A. Nadybal ("L. A. Nadybal" <lnadybal@...>)
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--- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "aletheiak" <aletheiak@y...> wrote:
>
> --- In BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "L. A. Nadybal"
> <lnadybal@c...> wrote:
> >
> > After a lapse of a few days, here, for your revived consideration,
> is
> > a presentation of another enclave that went away and came back.
> you
> > didn't like the pope's possession as an example, so how about this
> one?
> >
> > The Walled City of Kowloon inside British leased Hong Kong New
> > Territories.
> >
> > Here's a short history:
> >
> > June 9, 1898 Convention Respecting an Extension of the Hong Kong
> > Territory signed in Peking, provided that:
> >
> > - with respect to the walled city (Kowloon) "...Chinese
> officials
> > now stationed there shall continue to exercise jurisdiction except
> as
> > may be inconsistent with the military requirements for the defense
> of
> > Hong Kong. Within the remainder of the newly-leased territory
> Great
> > Britain shall have sole jurisdiction. Chinese officials and people
> > shall be allowed as heretofore to use the road from Kowloon to
> Hsinan."
> >
> > - "It is further agreed that the existing landing-place near
> > Kowloon City shall be reserved for the convenience of Chinese
> > men-of-war, merchant and passenger vessels which may lie there and
> > come and go at their pleasure; and for the convenience of movement
> of
> > the officials and people within the city."
> >
> > August 6, 1898, Ratifications exchanged in London.
> >
> > October 20, 1898 New Territories Order in Council (Court at
> Balmoral)
> > ordered (in its paragraph 4):
> >
> > - Notwithstanding anything contained herein, the Chinese
> > officials now stationed within the City of Kowloon shall continue
> to
> > exercize jurisdiction therein except in so far as may be
> inconsistent
> > with the military requirements for the defense of Hong Kong.."
> >
> > December 27, 1899 Walled City Order in Council (Court at Windsor)
> ordered:
> >
> > - "...Article 4 of the Order of Her Majesty in Council of the
> > 20th day of October, 1898, is hereby revoked... The City of
> Kowloon
> > shall be, and the same is hereby declared, for the term of the
> > lease... part and parcel of Her Majesty's Colony of Hong Kong..."
> >
> > "After the war the Chinese government planned to restore her
> > administration and the provincial authorities announced intention
> to
> > establish Chinese civil courts there" [Hong Kong Telegraph Dec. 6,
> > 1947].
> >
> > During its occupation of Hong Kong (24 Dec 1941 - Aug 1945), Japan
> > evicted people from the city; during the Japanese occupation the
> area
> > was sparsely populated. In 1943 the walls were demolished to
> provide
> > material for Kai Tak Airport improvements. After Japan's surrender,
> > squatters (whether former residents or - more likely - newcomers)
> > began to occupy the Walled City, resisting several attempts by
> Britain
> > in 1948 to drive them out. "The exact boundaries of the Walled City
> > cannot now be determined". (Wesley-Smith, Unequal Treaty). With no
> > wall to protect it (initially), the Walled City became a haven for
> > crooks and drug addicts, as the Hong Kong Police had no right to
> enter
> > the City (and mainland China refused to take care of it).
> >
> > The 1949 foundation of the Peoples' Republic of China added
> thousands
> > of refugees to the population, many from Guangzhou, and by this
> time,
> > Britain had had enough, and simply adopted a 'hands-off' policy. A
> > murder that occurred in Kowloon in 1959 set off a small diplomatic
> > crisis, as the two nations each tried to get the other to claim
> > responsibility for a vast tract of land now virtually ruled by
> > anti-Manchurian Triads. (The Triad is a collective term that
> > describes many branches of the underground society based in Hong
> > Kong). The Triads' rule lasted up until the mid-1970s, when a
> series
> > of over 3,000 police raids occurred in Kowloon. With the Triads'
> power
> > diminished, a strange sort of synergy blossomed, and the Walled
> City
> > began to grow almost organically, the square buildings folding up
> into
> > one another as thousands of modifications were made, virtually
> none by
> > architects, until hundreds of square metres were simply a kind of
> > patchwork monolith. Labyrinthine corridors ran through the
> monolith,
> > some of those being former streets (at the ground level, and often
> > clogged up with trash), and some of those running through upper
> > floors, practically between buildings. The only rules of
> construction
> > were twofold: electricity had to be provided to avoid fire, and the
> > buildings could be no more than about fourteen stories high
> (because
> > of the nearby airport). A mere eight municipal pipes somehow
> provided
> > water to the entire structure (although more could have come from
> > wells). By the early 1980s, Kowloon had an estimated population of
> > 35,000 - with a crime rate far below the Hong Kong average, despite
> > the notable lack of any real law enforcement.
> >
> > Over time, both the British and Chinese governments found this
> > massive, anarchic city to be a bit much - despite the low crime, if
> > the 'Black Market' ever had a physical location, this would have
> been
> > it, and needless to say, the sanitary conditions were, well, a bit
> > wanting. [Some Post WWII History above from the "Free
> Dictionary.com".]
> >
> > April 24, 1975, Hong Kong officials quoted as saying "Walled City
> is
> > not under the jurisdiction of the [Hong Kong] government" (South
> China
> > Morning Post).
> >
> > After the Joint Declaration in 1984 The Sino-British Joint
> Declaration
> > on the Question of Hong Kong (The Joint Declaration), was signed by
> > the Prime Ministers of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the
> > United Kingdom (UK) governments on December 19, 1984 in Beijing.
> The
> > Declaration entered into force with the exchange of instruments of
> > ratification on May 27, 1985 and was registered by the PRC and UK
> > governments at the United Nations on June 12, 1985. After the joint
> > declaration in 1984, China allowed British authorities to demolish
> the
> > City and resettle its inhabitants. The mutual decision to tear down
> > the walled city was made in 1987.
> >
> > Summary:
> > From the De Jure standpoint:
> >
> > a. From the HKK-British paradigm, the enclave existed for
> about
> > 14 months (a little longer from the British home government that
> was
> > not dependent upon the New Territories Orders), 1898-99.
> >
> > b. From the Chinese standpoint, it started to exist as non-
> leased
> > enclave within leased New Territories at start of lease 1898; it
> > ceased to exist as sovereignly differentiatable from surrounding
> > occupied territory only during Japanese occupation 1941-5 and it
> > returned to exist as non-leased territory surrounded by leased
> > trerritory in 1945 when GB power returned so that exercise of lease
> > terms could be resumed.
> >
> > From the de facto standpoint, Kowloon existed as enclave within the
> > leased area under British sovereignty from beginning of the New
> > Territories lease until revocation in 1899, was in limbo because
> the
> > weak Chinese government of the time could not exercise objections
> to
> > British actions until the Japanese took it in 1941 when it ceased
> to
> > be either under British or Chinese control. It formed again when
> the
> > Japanese left and lease terms resumed, but was under nominal
> Chinese
> > "control" until lease ended with British exercising minor
> > administrative power when defense (civil and military) of the
> leased
> > territory required (under the original provision of the lease from
> 1898).
> >
> > One can say that sovereignty was shared in certain aspects at
> certain
> > times,
>
> ok all very nice stuff len
> but it seems to me that the fact that one can say what you say here
> plus the fact that there were always clear indications of who was
> primarily in charge
> as expressed in wordings like
> insofar as is not inconsistent with the defense of such & such
> etc
> etc
> means
> again
> close but no obvious cigar yet
>
>
> also
> it may be worth reminding ourselves that rebirth of enclaves isnt
> the same thing as rebirth of exclaves
>
> political changes could renew or revive a nonexclave enclave border
> approximately or even precisely i suppose
> whether anything was actually revived or not
> since there is no enduring entity that this supposed renewal keeps
> belonging to
> but it comprises only itself each time it comes up
> & is thus a new & distinct entity at the time of each incarnation
>
>
> so i at least dont see anything in kowloon yet that is even remotely
> like the former amaz exclave enclaves
> which we were considering
> & which were a case of first black & then white but never gray
> & which occasioned this quest or question
>
> nor is anybody denying or disliking anything
> but just looking for real evidence of a quite definite & specific
> thing
>
> proof of an exception that proves a rule
> by actually going from black to white
> & then back to black again
>
> unless this really is the nonesuch & impossibility i imagine
>
>
> but as an international enclave that existed and that came and
> > went and returned (from at lease someone's official sovereign
> > standpoint) can't be denied.
> >
> > LN