CONFIDENTIAL
d. The Daily Telegraph correspondent in Peking quoted a senior Chinese official (not identified) as responding to a question whether Britain could play any role in the administration of Hong Kong after China regained sovereignty as follows by saying that sovereignty was not negotiable and that sovereignty and the right of administration were inseparable, adding that China was exploring ways to accommodate British interests after she recovered sovereignty, with the aim of maintaining Hong Kong's prosperity. (Daily Telegraph, 15 December 1982.)
e.
A Xinhua correspondent in Hong Kong, Szeto Keung, told a British academic on 22 December that China would resume sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, but not before then; Hong Kong would become a special administrative region in accordance with article 31 of the Chinese Constitution; the article could be amplified to take account of arrangements agreed with Britain and Hong Kong's needs; the only require- ment would be their acceptance of China's sovereignty; Hong Kong would have external economic systems; China would not interfere but British rule would cease, eg there would be no right of appeal to the Privy Council; residents who wished to leave would be free to do so; the needs of the 'Hong Kong British' would be catered for.
January 1983
a. Liao Chengzhi told a visiting group from the New Territories in January 1983 that the Sino-British talks were like a ball game in which China had kicked the ball and the next move would depend on how the other side kicked the ball back.
The Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao and New Evening Post published editorials on 13 January criticising a statement by Mr Hilton Cheong-leen calling for continuation of the present "three-legged" structure for 30-50 years. The Ta Kung Pao editorial said that this would involve continued British administration and implied disapproval of China's plan to regain sovereignty.
C.
At a press conference in Dar-es-Salaam on 13 January, Zhao Ziyang said: 'Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China. Sovereignty over Hong Kong will be recovered when the time is ripe. At the same time China will adopt a series of policies to preserve the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong'.
February 1983
a.
Speaking in London on 4 February the then Chinese Ambassador, Ke Hua said (according to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po) that Hong Kong was part of the inalienable territory of China; after the recovery of Hong Kong China would follow a policy of not changing the social system and people's life-style, protecting the property of the people of Hong Kong and foreign investors, maintaining Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre and free port; and that Hong Kong would be administered by Hong Kong people, not persons sent from Peking. According to the non-communist Sing-tao Daily, Ke also said that there was absolutely no room for negotiation over sovereignty and the unequal treaties must be' abolished'.
CONFIDENTIAL
/b.