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the status of Taiwan negotiated in 1972 in connection with the
establishment of full diplomatic relations. An acknowledgement'
(i.e. taking note) of the Chinese position that Hong Kong is
Chinese territory would not create legal difficulties for the UK
but might be acceptable to the Chinese if they were seeking grounds
for permitting the continuation of British administration. But
equally it might not go far enough for them. And we would still
need Chinese agreement to amendment of the 1898 Order in Council.
18.
We should therefore examine any Chinese proposal on sovereignty
very carefully but only be prepared to make concessions if Peking
were ready to give assurances going well beyond a pragmatic
understanding on land leases and general assurances about Hong Kong's
future stability.
Chinese Representative
There would be no legal
19. Here the problem is primarily political.
problem for HMG in agreeing to the presence of a 'Chinese Representative
in Hong Kong'. As Annex C shows, there was for a short time such
an official after the Second World War. What would matter for us
would be the psychological and political impact on confidence in
Hong Kong.
This would in turn depend partly on the function of
the representative.
20. If the representative simply took up the present liaison duties
of the senior New China News Agency official, which amount in practice
to a diplomatic role, it would be relatively easy to explain the
change as the natural result of improved Sino-UK relations and as
ending the anomaly of the NCNA role. It would be an advantage if
he were from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as was the case under
the Nationalist Government in the late 1940s. Judging by their
attitude over the title of the proposed visa office, the Chinese
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