IPU MAIN CONFERENCE, ROME 1982
HONG KONG/CHINA
File
1.
Hong Kong is a British Dependent Territory, administered
by a Governor (appointed by the Crown) with an advisory
Executive Council and Legislative Council. It consists of:
Hong Kong Island, ceded by China in perpetuity
(a)
(b)
by the Treaty of Nanking (1842);
Kowloon and Stonecutters' Island, similarly
ceded in 1860 by the First Convention of Peking;
and
(c)
the New Territories, which China leased to
Britain for 99 years in 1898 by the Second
Convention of Peking.
The lease on the New Territories expires in 1997.
2.
The Chinese consider the Treaty of Nanking and both
Conventions of Peking as 'unequal treaties', forced on China
during internal weakness, and do not recognise them. They
regard Hong Kong as a part of China temporarily under British
rule, a 'problem left over from history' to be dealt with when
the time is right by peaceful means.
3.
At Chinese instigation Hong Kong was in 1972 removed
the UN list of dependent territories to be considered as
candidates for independence by the Committee of 24.
14.