DSR 11 (Revised Sept 85)
DRAFT: minute/letter/teleletter/despatch/note
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HONG KONG
TYPE: Draft/Final 1 +
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1.
The starting point for any discussion of Hong Kong
must be the Sino British Joint Declaration of 1984, under
which the territory will become a Special Administrative
Region of the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997
with a high degree of autonomy.
The Joint Declaration
provides in great detail for the preservation of Hong
Kong's present economic, legal and other systems, its
freedoms, and its way of life. Given that 92% of the
territory was due to revert to China by Treaty in 1997
without any safeguards, the conclusion of the Joint
Declaration was a major achievement. It was and is
recognised as such by the vast majority of the people of
Hong Kong, even though they would have preferred the
perpetuation of British administration had that been
attainable.