86
布政司署
香港下亞
畢道一
*** OUR REF.: TSX 1/78
RELIVED IN Rows"
SECRET
ник 04.07.
110
NO. 51
GOVERNment SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
5 JUN1979
23 May, 1979.
來函檔號 YOUR REF.:
SK OFFICER
R JT McLaren Esq M
PA
Hong Kong & General Department
F CO
2 √30%
CC
Mr Sanuel, FED)
Rs Luchford
Sear 31/5
N behoven
2
Mr Quayvana
e
leer
NEW TERRITORIES LEASES
I do not find (1) 1) and [11) of para 3 at all convincing. 3(iv) is swely wrong; this was a subsidias purpose, brought in assomething of an after thought,
not the "real objective of the exercise, which was to find a
a way aspect of the 1997 problem that needed to be resolved Thank you for sending me a copy of Bill Quantrill's minute on leases. We read it with interest.
There is always the hope that somebody will come up with
the perfect solution!
We do not yet know how the Chinese have really
2. reacted to what we have told them about our plans on leases. Indeed, we are not sure yet that they have fully understood what we intend. Nevertheless, as we see it here, what we are suggesting (i.e. course A in Hong Kong telegram No 519 of 3 May) is compatible with what seemed to be Deng's vision of Hong Kong's future. We see it as being genuinely in the mutual interest of both China and Hong Kong that it should go through. Furthermore, it is neutral (or essentially permissive) with regard to China's long-term intentions. these reasons, quite apart from the argument about whether or not we have gone too far down one particular road to draw back, we see no reason to amend it. If however it runs into major difficulties with the Chinese we will have to think again.
3.
For
It is just conceivable that Bill Quantrill's suggested approach could be a fall-back position if we are rebuffed on our present solution. But there are major disadvantages:
(i)
no!
As I
As I see it, our lawyers have in fact been arguing about slightly different points. I do not think it is right to say that the AG's arguments were "pretty comprehensively demolished" by the FCO legal advisers. understand it, Mr Rushford was correctly saying that it is not ultra vires for Hong Kong to issue leases in the New Territories beyond the term of the New Territories Lease itself. Our legal advisers were saying, equally correctly, that the validity of post- 1997 leases would in practice be open to
SECRET
/contd.
out of the only
in the immediate
future-the inhibiting effect of
shortenns
the
span of land leases in de
New Territares
W.E. Chantill
1/6
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