SECRET
BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS HONG KONG IN THE 1980'S
I.
Introduction
This would briefly establish that since independence for
Hong Kong is ruled out, and since withdrawal would almost
certainly have very damaging consequences for British
interests Britain's overall aim should be to remain as the
administering power in mong long, indefinitely, notwith-
standing our normal policy of seeking to disengage
wherever possible from our remaining colonial
res
Anities. The introduction would also dismiss
as unrealistic thought of a compromise solution based
on treatin
entities,
CA
2
ng Kong an the New Territories as separate
uld make it plain that the mole paper is
based on the assumption that the Chinese Government would
continue to follow the reasonable, pragmatic course on
which they appear set at present.
11.
The Unavoidable Froblems
This section will identify those problems which it will be
essential to solve if British rule is to be maintained
for the rest of this century and perhaps beyond. Most of
these problems derive from the fact that the New
Territories Lease expires on 1 July 1997. They include:
a) land leases in the New Territories;
b) the need to ensure that the right of the
Government to legislate for the New Territories
after 1997 will not be open to challenge in the
Hong Kong Courts;
It will also be necessary to ensure that by tackling these
specific problems we shall be doing enough to dispel the
SECRET
/general