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LAND LEASES IN NEW TERRITORIES.
5.
Most pressing issue individual leases of Crown land in New
At present, these are written to expire in 1997; for
longer leases to be issued the 1898 Order in Council would have to
Territories.
be amended.
There is a risk that the shortening length of leases will
signal to businessmen that no arrangement has been reached about
Hong Kong's future and that they will lose confidence and wish to
disinvest.
PREVIOUS UK PROPOSAL AND OTHER CONTACTS
6.
This
Chinese rejected a solution we proposed in July 1979.
would have involved issuing leases without a terminal date. Chinese
probably objected mainly to our suggestion for an Order in Council
that would make it possible for British administration to continue
after 1997 should Chinese (and, of course, British) Governments so
wish (see Annex C). Lord Carrington raised question with Foreign
Minister Huang Hua in October 1980 and it has been raised with NCNA
in Hong Kong in the context of a lease for the Tin Shui Wai project.
Huang Hua went no further than to repeat the earlier general
assurances, but it was clear from his conversation later with
Sir E Youde that he had taken in the problem.
POSSIBLE OFFICIAL TALKS
7.
Chinese leaders may not be ready for detailed discussion of
land leases. No value in such talks without real evidence of direction
from the top. Should Deng Xiaoping appear to accept the need to take
early steps to forestall a slide in confidence in Hong Kong whether
by a solution on land leases or by other means, a dialogue should be sought between officials on the basis of a directive covering
the issues to which they should address themselves. (Annex A
/provides
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