PART III
SECRET
British Aim
21.
If these alternatives have to be ruled out, the best practical
way to maintain confidence is the continuation of British
administration over the whole territory, and a public commit-
ment by the PRC that this would last well beyond 1997.
However, it is clear that no solution would be politically
acceptable to the PRC unless it included British recognition
of Chinese sovereignty over the whole territory. Thus, the
main objective of British policy should be to reach early agree-
ment with the PRC on continuing British administration and
control. If this could be obtained, a concession on sovereignty
could be contemplated.
Possible Approaches to the Problem of Sovereignty
Token Acknowledgement of eventual Sovereignty
22. Much will depend upon what the PRC mean when they talk
about the recovery of Chinese sovereignty. If they were to be
content with a formal acknowledgement that sovereignty over
the whole of Hong Kong would eventually revert to China, and
agree to the continuation of British administration until
the transfer of sovereignty at some unspecified date, this
would be very satisfactory. The date of 1997 would cease to
have significance and the benevolent attitude of China, coupled
with continued British administration in Hong Kong, should
ensure the territory's prosperity for the foreseeable future.
However, the Chinese are unlikely to see any attraction in
this.
12
السم
SECRET
/Acknowledgement