ISLAND OF HONGKONG

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 297, 17 December 1941, Page 7

ISLAND OF HONGKONG

NOT MUCH BIGGER THAN KAPITI OPEN TO AIR AND ARTILLERY BOMBARDMENT Hongkong, the small island off the China coast, since the creation of Singapore as the keystone of British Imperia! defence by sea, air and land in the Far East, has lost much of its former importance as the bastion of . British power in the sphere which Japan has now claimed as her own. j So long as Japan was content to » pursue a peaceful career in the vvestI ern Pacific and East Asia. Hongkong was quite sufficient for British purposes. The rise of Japanese ambitions Jafter the last war altered the whole I (situation. With Japan as a potential . j enemy, after the expiry of the AngloI Japanese Alliance in 1922, the weakI ness of Hongkong became patent, and ; the decision was wisely taken by the 'lmperial authorities to make a new j base at Singapore. This, fortunately. . i has been completed in time to be of I the utmost service to the cause of t Britain. America. China, and the Dutch -the ABC D. Powers—in the western Pacific. '• Triangle of Allied Defence. i Singapore. Manila, and Hongkong I form the triangle of Allied defence in ) the South China Sea. Japan is striking at all three simultaneously, and has gained useful ground for operations. Hongkong, the nearest to > Japan, is the most exposed to attack, jit is only a little island not much bigger than Kapitl—anfl Its famous 1 harbour is a narrow waterway separating it from tne mainland of China at Kowloon. At its narrowest ' point, in the Lyeemoon Pass, the water is only a quarter of a mile wide. The Peninsula of Kowloon was ceded to Britain in 1860, and now forms part of Hongkong territory. An additional area of 356 square miles | was leased in 1898—from China for 99 years. The area of Old Kowloon is I only three square miles. The island of Hongkong is 11 miles long from east to vest and from two to five miles wide, with an area of rather more than 32 square miles. The population of the island is about half a million: with Kowloon territory about a million. The four years’ “China incident’’ has given the Japanese possession of all the mainland territory, including the city of Canton, immediately out-' side the Hongkong-Kowloon area.: Further inland China is a sort ofj “no man's land” in which Chinese guerrillas, owing allegiance to Chungking and Chiang Kai-shek, operate freely. These ate now striving to relievo the pressure the Japanese are putting on the approaches to Hongkong through Kowloon and are doing useful work harassing the enemy. Much more substantial help will be needed to compel the Japanese to raise the siege of Hongkong, which is j now commencing. The latest news states that the British are evacuating the Kowloon area and retiring to the island itself. This was inevitable in the face of much superior forces. A Japanese air and land bombardment has begun. Japanese Artillery Hill (ximinand Capital. From a ring of hills overlooking the strait and harbour from the Kowloon side Japanese artillery will be able to command the city of Victoria, the capital. Hongkong is an island fortress bristling with guns, something like a Far Eastern Gibraltar, but the only defence against air attacks will be by anti-aircraft guns. The defences have been much improved and strengthened in the last few years, when it became obvious that sooner or later an attack would have to be laced- The garrison has been reinforced with Canadian troops, and includes Indian and British units. As described in hhe news to-day, the beaches and other likely points of attack have been heavily planted with all sorts of protective devices. Shelters have been dug in the ridge which rises to the famous Peak, to whicti the population in peacetime used to retire in the hot weather. Any attempt by the Japanese at direct assault would be very cosily.

The danger to Hongkong is rather from blockade and bombardment, and heavy bombardment by aircraft and artillery is in progress. The Chinese civil population was in normal times nearly 450,000 and may have been increased during the Chinese war by refugees whom the suddenness of the present attack must have made it impossible to evacuate in large numbers. The supply of food and water maybecome a problem. The rainfall is heavy, 85 inches a year on the average. and the run-off from the hills is caught in reservoirs formed by concrete dams across gullies. These will be somewhat vulnerable to air assault. Thus the continued defence of Hongkong. in the dry season, must he regarded as somewhat in the nature of a forlorn hope Hope of relief from the sea must he deferred so long as Japan maintains the command in these waters. In this respect the situation ol Hongkong differs greatly from that of Tobruk in its long siege and successful defence. The only other hope is for a Chinese land force to relieve the siege by a march on Canton and the Japanese rear. This is nut impossible, for the Chungking armies should find ttlie Japanese on the defensive now in China while lheii armies are so busily engaged elsewhere. Their air. indeed, rumours of a Japanese withdrawal from Ichang on the Yangtze, and. possibly, later. Honkow. But it is winter in this part of China, and the climate is severe. Still. Hongkong ' is even more important to the Chinese I than it is to the British and Americans. It is the last Allied possession on the China coast and as such thr| sole remaining gateway from the sea.

Its retention by the Allies and the recovery of Canton would open up a new route to inland China and gieatly facilitate the transport of heavy military supplies to the Chinese armies in the field. In such a role Hongkong comes into the larger strategy of the war which President Roosevelt is so rightly insistent must be developed by the Allies if they are to make a good job of the tight with the Axis. The Chinese, with their unlimited manpower. in tHiis respect play the part in East Asia that the Russians are playing in the West and in Europe.