(F)
(G)
RESTRICTED
As noted in (C) above, when making oral statements or drafting documents of any kind, the delegation should refer to Hong Kong
as a "territory".
All Hong Kong problems should be reported to the FCO, at
after the event.
BACKGROUND
HONG KONG'S STATUS AND NOMENCLATURE
4.
The Chinese regard Hong Kong as Chinese territory occupied by the British authorities. While they accept the status quo for purely practical purposes, they object to references to Hong Kong,
made in meetings and in UN and other documents, when they consider
these to imply that Hong Kong is an independent country. They also
dislike explicit references to Hong Kong as a dependent territory of
the UK. The specific terms to which they have objected in recent
years have varied according to the context. As well as "country",
they have objected to references to the "Government of Hong Kong",
and to "territory" when it implies a reference to Hong Kong's
position as a dependent territory.
We do not favour
5. Our preference is for the term "territory".
terms such as "region", "zone" or "area", which could be taken as
implying that Hong Kong is a region of China. We have however
acquiesced in the heading "countries and areas" in UN statistical
publications so long as there is a disclaimer to the effect that
"country or area" should be interpreted to cover countries,
territories, cities or areas.
As noted above, we can also accept
"area" as a last resort. The successful conclusion of the recent
negotiations on the future of Hong Kong after 1997 should reduce
Chinese sensitivities over matters of status and nomenclature.
However until 1997 we would expect the Chinese to seek to maintain their formal position over Hong Kong's status in international fora
if, deliberately or inadvertantly, this is called into question.
HONG KONG AGREEMENT
7. A draft agreement on the
the future of Hong Kong was initialled by
British and Chinese negotiators on 26 September 1984. It is due to be signed before the end of 1984 and ratified before
/30 June