The ViewA history lesson: British colonial approach on land use in New Territories

Professor Kathryn Tidrick in her book Empire and the English Character recounts how Sir Hugh Clifford, Governor of British Ceylon in the 1920s, wondered why other nations needed so many more men than the British to keep the natives down.

If Britain, for instance, only needed 500 men to rule India, with its population of 300 million, why were the French unable to get by with less than 200 fonctionnaires for one and a half million Cambodians?

Her study, however, led me to take another look at how the British in Hong Kong handled the hostile indigenous rural inhabitants in the New Territories (NT) after taking over in 1898.

The Chinese clans felt abandoned by the Qing government and feared for their traditional land rights and land use, and way of life. In April 1899 they mobilised 1,600 militia and made a futile attempt to resist the British during the Six-Day War.

This was quite a resistance; for the NT at that time was estimated to have about only 100,000 inhabitants in around 800 villages. Despite their defeat, their assault showed the British they were well-organised and well-led, and harboured intense feelings of hostility and anxiety.

The British government decided it could not displace so many people as it had done on Hong Kong Island. So, to prevent future resistance, it made concessions to placate the indigenous inhabitants with regards to land use, land inheritance and marriage laws.