CODE 18-77
SS 8/78
SECRET
Separate copies to:
Mr Watts, Legal Advisers
Mr Aust, Legal Advisers
Reference
О
HONG KONG STUDY: POSTS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND BROADCASTING
1.
We are putting together a paper for the Prime
Minister on the future of Hong Kong.
2.
In particular we are looking at what the implications might be of a possible change of sovereignty over Hong Kong. (For obvious reasons this is a most sensitive subject!)
3.
One of the areas being examined is Posts, Telecom- munications and Broadcasting in which we look at:
4.
?
(a)
(b)
(c)
the present situation;
what changes, if any, would be caused by the simple acknowledgement of Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong;
what changes would be caused by acknowledgement of Chinese sovereignty coupled with Hong Kong becoming a Special Administrative Region of China (ie, more closely a part of China than (b) which envisages continued British adminis- tration on a 'management' basis).
At this stage we move into a somewhat speculative area and I appreciate that it is probably not possible to go into much detail but given eg, Hong Kong's membership of the UPU, the CTU and the ITU, and such matters as wavebands and the possibility of a BBC transmitter being set up in Hong Kong, I would be grateful for any thoughts you might have on the implications, legal or otherwise, of (b) and (c) above on these and any related areas.
16 August 1982
cc:
Mr Rushford f.i.
نام کیا
W Morris
Hong Kong and General Department WH 312
233 3988
SECRET