Hong Kong proposal to link railways in Canton, newspaper article 1934

IDJ has sent the following newspaper article of June 1934 which covers opposition in Canton to efforts in Hong Kong to link the Canton – Hankow railway with the Canton – Kowloon railway. This might be read in conjunction with our article, Hong Kong-London direct train service, newspaper article 1935, linked below which also mentions connecting the two railway lines in Canton.

HF: I have retyped the article. Thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped article.

Canton, June 14

Officials and merchants here are not in favour of joining the Canton-Hankow Railway with the Canton-Kowloon Railway at this centre as proposed by Mr. Wong Kwong Tin, Chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

The Canton Chamber of Commerce has sounded all the guilds on this point and has received unfavourable replies from them. These commercial bodies hold the view that in such through service Canton has nothing to gain but everything to lose.

If through traffic can go between Lohchang and Kowloon and between Hankow and Kowloon in 1936, merchants here believe that Canton will lose all the wharfage and warehouse business. In that event, goods would not stop here but would proceed direct to Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong is already the entrepot of South China,” a leading merchant here pointed out today. “Should there be a connection between the two lines Canton will no longer be a centre of trade in Kwantung. Hong Kong will then feed and receive all the goods imported into and exported from South China.

Mr. Lee Shin Kan managing director of the Canton-Hankow Railway (South Section) denied any possibility of joining his line with the Canton-Kowloon Railway. Mr. Lee said that the efforts of his administration are concentrated on the early completion of the railway from Canton to Hankow.

Similar views are expressed by Mr. Hsiao Fu Chen, member of the South-west Political Council. He said Canton would become a dead city if goods consigned to various parts of the province cannot be concentrated first at this point.

Source:  Hong Kong Daily Press 15th June 1934

This article was first posted on 24th December 2020.

Related Indhhk articles:

1. Hong Kong-London direct train service, newspaper article 1935