Mr Murray
SECRET
#KK ONO/1
الميه
Seen by Mr Mullay
•
C
meeting duly took place
INDEX
STUDY ON THE NEW TERRITORIES LEASE
M
OFFICER
Ri
Borin T-men
17/vin
89
Flag A
Flag B
80
Flag C
Flag D
83
€
1. You have agreed to chair a meeting at 9.30 am on 17 August to discuss the proposals for handling the question of New Territories leases contained in Sir D Roberts' letter to me of 6 July (Your minute of 21 July). Those attending will be the Governor, Mr
Rushford, Mr Samuel, Mr Thompson and myself.
2. I have asked the Department's Legal Adviser for his opinion
on the legal aspects of this question. His views are contained in his minute of 9 August. In brief, he takes the view that there is no legal impediment to the grant of leases extending beyond
1 July 1997. His opinion is therefore at variance with that of the Hong Kong Solicitor-General, who considered that legislation would
be needed before such leases could be granted.
3. Mr Rushford's opinion on the proposal to grant leases for an indeterminate period is also attached (his minute of 10 August). You will see that he is not attracted to this way of proceeding.
4.
From the political point of view, Sir D Roberts' letter is much less controversial. We would agree that the time to approach the Chinese will be at a point when there is a demonstrable need to clarify future prospects because of the risk of a loss of confidence, but before Hong Kong has actually started to run down. We would also agree that the problem of the New Territories leases might be a suitable peg on which to hang our approach to the Chinese, particularly as this practical issue will have to be solved in any event, and no solution will be possible without at least the tacit approval of the Chinese Government.
5. The political aspects are however best dealt with in the context of the wider study which we have in mind. The timing and nature of an approach, the tactical handling of it, and the
SECRET
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