Colonial Nostalgia at the Old Tai Po Police Station

The Old Tai Po Police Station is a Declared Monument in Tai Po. I joined a guided tour in order to learn its history. Green Hub is the NGO that runs the operation and maintenance at the Old Tai Po Police Station now and it offers guided tour of the site. The history of the Old Tai Po Police Station began after the Six-Day War of 1899. The confrontations between the indigenous villagers of the New Territories and the British officers that sought to exercise the act of sovereignty in 1899 occurred at the flagstaff established at a temporary police station in Tai Po. In 1898, the British signed the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory (also known as the Second Convention of Peking) with the Qing Government to lease the New Territories for 99 years. This Convention was a result of negotiation, and not a direct consequence of the two Opium Wars, which gave rise to the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 (the ceding of Hong Kong Island to Great Britain) and the Treaty of Peking in 1860 (the ceding of Kowloon up to the Boundary Street). Rumors about the British exercise of sovereignty in the New Territories were circulating in 1899 when police superintendent Henry May established matsheds for the purpose of flag raising. The villagers were very worried that British arrival would result in coerced changes in the customs being practiced then, both in terms of land relationships and cultural practices. When the British officers were attacked at the matsheds and the site was burned down by the villagers in April 1899, the Six-Day War of 1899 drew its curtains. The British retreated after the matsheds were burned down. They soon came back with more troops and engaged in six days of fighting throughout the New Territories, first from Tai Po in the east all the way westward throughout Yuen Long. Many villages were involved in this war. This history was previously discussed in my review of Professor Patric Hase’s book. After the British claimed victory in the Six-Day War of 1899, they imposed a number of policies both to pacify the villagers and to solidify the British administration of the New Territories. The Old Tai Po Police Station was established as one such initiative. When it was established, the Old Tai Po Police Station accommodated five British, high-ranking officers, and 32 Indian and Chinese constables. It was the very first permanent police station in the New Territories. It was also the Police Headquarters for the New Territories until the new Tai Po Police Station began its service in 1987. This site in Tai Po was selected for both the flag raising and the location of the permanent police station for two reasons. This location was easily accessible both by land and by sea. Secondly, the small hill of Wan Tau Kok (formerly known as the Flagstaff Hill) provides the vantage point to look out to what used to be the Tai Po Sea (now we call it Tolo Harbour). As such both patrol of land and the sea was possible at this location. #ne #hongkongheritage #declaredmonument #oldpolicestation #sixdaywarof1899 #hongkonghistory #declaredmoument #newterritories #freetour #china #taipo