SECRET
9. If, as seems possible, the PRC is reluctant to tie its hands in advance about the future of Hong Kong, it seems also possible that it may be to the advantage of the UK to proceed by small but definite steps of a practical kind without seeking the explicit approval of the PRC in the hope that the PRC will eventually be ready to reach a firm understanding with HMG about the future of the colony in the next century.
10. It would be presumptuous on my part to assess the political possibilities or to advocate any particular course of action; my concern is simply to elucidate the position of the UK in international and in municipal law and to indicate what
legislative action is open to HMG in order to make its position more flexible.
A.R.R.
A R Rushford
Deputy Legal Adviser
2 February 1982