CONFIDENTIAL
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8.
The New Territories, without which Hong Kong
and Kowloon are not thought to be viable, are held
on a 99-year lease, which expires in 1997. The
Chinese regard the entire Colony as part of China
and would react strongly against any move towards
independence. Normal constitutional progress for
Hong Kong is therefore impossible. The Government
are, however, looking to the sphere of local govern-
ment to seek ways in which the people of the Colony
may be more closely associated with the conduct of
their own affairs. Whatever political and social
shortcomings there may be in Hong Kong, the steady
influx of rofugees shows that many people in China,
who know what Hong Kong is like, consider life there
preferable to that on the mainland.
BACKGROUND
Background notes are attached.
CONFIDENTIAL