CONFIDENTIAL
BRIEF 6
VISIT TO HONG KONG BY MINISTER FOR TRADE
30 AUGUST
5 SEPTEMBER 1980
ESSENTIAL FACTS
NO. 2 POLITICAL BRIEF
FUTURE OF HONG KONG
1
The present Chinese Government have never recognised the 19th century treaties establishing British administration in Hong Kong. They regard Hong Kong as Chinese territory temporarily under British administration. Their publicly stated position is that the question of the territory's future is something to be settled through negotiation, when the time is ripe. In the meantime, they have been at pains to assure investors that they need have no fear for their investments no matter what decisions are eventually reached about Hong Kong's political status.
2
Such generalised assurances are helpful to long-term confidence but they only partly relieve the legal and practical problems which arise from the fact that all land leases in the New Territories are due to end in 1997. These are matters which both
sides will need to look at and discuss eg during the Secretary of
State's forthcoming visit to Peking.
NEW NATIONALITY LAW
3
HMG have agreed to establish a separate category of citizenship for the Dependent Territories as a whole. The White Paper on a New British Nationality Law, published on 30 July, suggests that the title should be 'Citizenship of the British Dependent Territories', but allows for the possibility of further
discussion. Hong Kong, which is in any case unhappy about the abandonment of a unitary system of citizenship has argued for the retention of the term 'British Subject'. The proposed changes are
seen by some in Hong Kong as distancing the territory from the UK.
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