ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK: UK GUARANTEE OF HONG KONG'S
OBLIGATIONS
NOTES FOR SUPPLEMENTARIES AND WINDING UP
Note No B1
What happens if the expected arrangements for China's membership fall through?
HMC expect that there will be no difficulty over the Governors' vote on China's
membership. If nonetheless China did not become a member by 1997, we would then
have to discuss with the Chinese Government practical aspects of transferring the
guarantee. It is already agreed that the Chinese Government should assume
responsibility whether or not China is a member.
[Article 3 of the Bank's Articles of Agreement, dealing with membership, foresees
only that a dependent territory might become independent, not that sovereignty
might be transferred to another country.
Informal discussions with Bank staff have indicated that there should be no
problem from the Bank's point of view about the transfer of the guarantee
responsibility if that is agreed between the two sides.]