Hongkong

At 4 a.m. we found ourselves close under the light on the eastern end of the island of Hongkong. We were surrounded by islands, and the morning was dark and thick; so we waited till 5.30, and then steamed on through the Kowloon passage up to the city of Victoria, as it is really named, though it is generally called Hongkong.

In the spring of 1857, I, with several friends, left Hongkong for Shanghai, viâ Foochow, in the small coasting steamer Antelope.

Hongkong, and the opposite portion of the mainland of China, known as the Peninsula of Kowloon, together with the few tiny islets situated close inshore (Kellett Island, Stonecutter's Island, Green Island, Tree Island, Aberdeen Middle Island, and Round Island), all of which are at the present day comprised, within the boundaries of the Colony, formed, since time immemorial, a portion of the Kwangtung (Canton) Province. The Island of Hongkong (covering an area of about 29 square miles) is situated, 76 miles of Canton, near the mouth of the Pearl River, the eastern banks of which are lined by the Tungkoon District (24 miles S.E. of Canton city) and the Sanon District (52 miles S.E. of Canton city), of which the Kowloon Peninsula and Kowloon City Promontory from^([sic – meaning form]) the south-eastern extremities, whilst Hongkong is separated from Kowloon Peninsula by a channel of one nautical mile in width.

Thus they went further afield in their depredations, and only last Summer, it will be remembered, a party of Japanese bird-hunters was rescued by a Brazilian training-ship as far south as Wake’s Island, just as their provisions and water had petered out, and were brought on to Hongkong.

Reports were common of a Sino-British agreement for British co-operation in the economic development of South China, including British financing of a railway in Hainan, the establishment of an airdrome on Tungsha Island southeast of Hongkong, an oil depot in the Sesha Islands southwest of Hainan, and the development of mines in South China.

Human rights advocate Wei Ching-sheng was arrested in Peiping's recent crackdown on dissidents according to a report from Hongkong.

The ROCs set policy stipulates that ROC agencies will not be withdrawn from Hong Kong after 1997 and will continue helping our compatriots in Hongkong to maintain a free and democratic lifestyle.