From The Minister of State
The Hon Francis Maude MP
Peter Viggers Esq MP House of Commons London
SWLA OAA
Dear Mr Viggers,
8 233/1
19
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SWIA 2AH
10 May 1990
My B233
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- JUL 1990
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INDL
Thank you for your letters of 3 and 9 May about your forthcoming visit to Hong Kong and China. I see that your visit to Hong Kong is being arranged by the Hong Kong Government who will I am sure provide you with material for the Hong Kong leg of your visit. I have, however, commented below on the points which the Association of Expatriate Civil Servants of Hong Kong raised in their letter.
We recognise that the Association's concerns are genuine ones but many of them are already taken fully into account in the Joint Declaration and in the Basic Law which has recently been promulgated. The provisions in the Joint Declaration are important stipulations, contained in an internationally binding agreement, and they should not be dismissed lightly. Taking the points individually:
(i) and (iii) Both of these points are fully covered in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law which state that the Hong Kong dollar will continue to circulate and remain freely convertible. They also state that no exchange control policy shall be applied in the Special Administrative Region. The Basic law stipulates that the Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own concerning types of taxes, tax rate, tax reductions and exemptions, taking the low tax policy previously pursued in Hong Kong as reference.
(ii) On the question of the supplementary pension for overseas service (SPOS), I know that the arrangements are considered by some to be inequitable. But I believe that the majority regard them as satisfactory. I am not
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