SECRET
coumor bercally he objected to
muil the
reason for chaye in that Derg's objection is on the
record !!!
but it
MAY
ales follow
that Chinese we might, when they come to unchstar of
in prefe, orginally from $52
But see earlies
comment.
Hai's weels conem 1 Ruckford's and 7 Drowen
2.
d)
e)
In my
para 3 of the draft at flag B. view we need not and should not. In this context the phrase cannot be objected to by the Chinese since the statement "that the Governor will continue to govern so long as Her Majesty administers the territories" is tautologous.
is tautologous. Nevertheless we need something to make clear that British administration will not be ultra vires after 1997. From the Chinese point of view I would have thought that so long as Her Majesty administers those territories was infinitely preferable to the form now
11
proposed for para 2, ie that it will "continue indefinitely".
I agree with PA's rephrasing of the saving clause in his para 10, i e "Nothing in this Order shall detract from the provisions of the Order of Her Majesty in Council made in respect of the New Territories on 20 November 1898".
On reconsideration I think that the concept of introducing leases of indeterminate length, coupled with a right of administration coterminus with British right of administration, in keeping with Deng's concept of a Hong Kong in which investments, standard of living and the capitalism system might continue even though he could not say whether there might or might not be "political changes" meanwhile. Under the road present formulation leases rights could continue even though there were political changes modifying the administration from its present wholly British character.
CS's point about the parallel with Macau is interesting and clinches my view that we should go for the alternative in 7(a).
3.
The new
We have to bear firmly in mind that our present object is purely to eliminate the significance of 1997 for land leases and that all other political considerations at left open so as not to contradict the Chinese position. formulation accords with this completely, and I would in fact prefer it to the original draft at flag B because the latter makes leases automatically coterminus with British administration and thus could conflict with Deng's concept.
25 April 1979
M.
SECRET
P.T.0.