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DSR 11C
1
move towards an agreement with China. Damage to confidence
would depend on the context in which the move was set,
whether significant concessions had been made by the Chinese
in return and what the Chinese said about it. If the matter
came up during the next 5 years, this would probably mean
in practice moves on our part to reassure investors
particular to overcome the difficulty over individual land
leases. We would need to use a concession over a Chinese
representative to obtain as concrete undertakings as
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possible from the Chinese on these points. These should
go beyond the general assurances which Chinese leaders have
given so far. We would need at least an arrangement whereby
Peking agreed that the Hong Kong Government would in future
issue standard leases of a definite duration, say 25 years,
and that Peking recognised their validity. In this case
we would still need to overcome the problem of whether
such leases were valid under British law.
Chinese Participation in Hong Kong Administration
21. The range of possible demands is given in paragraph
12(c) above. The more extreme proposals, such as membership
of the Executive and/or Legislative Councils, are very
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/unlikely