CONFIDENTIAL
immunities should be granted to Group members.
DSR 11C
(There is
of course an obligation under the agreement to provide
them).
5. There is no alternative to providing these privileges
and immunities through legislation. Only thus can we be
confident of meeting our obligations under the agreement.
The Hong Kong Government will take the necessary
legislative action to ensure that appropriate privileges
and immunities are enjoyed by the five Chinese members of
the Group while they are in Hong Kong. Our own
legislation will therefore need to cover these persons
only while they are in London. The situation is not
thought to be covered already by Section 6 of the
International Organisations Act, 1968.
6. There is no requirement in the Joint Declaration or
its Annexes to confer any privileges or immunities on
supporting staff. There is therefore no question of
extending legislation to cover them. However, in order
to ensure the right degree of protection for any
supporting staff whom we send to Peking for meetings of
the Group or any sub-groups we propose to attach them
temporarily to the Embassy there. We must be ready to
to agree by reciprocal arrangements for any Chinese
supporting staff sent to London for meetings.
7. The Committee is invited to agree to what is proposed
above. I should be grateful for any comments by Friday 9
November, since instructions to parliamentary counsel