c/o GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT HONG KONG
9 May 1991
K.O. Shipley Esq, CBE, JP
Secretary for the Civil Service (Ag)
Civil Service Branch
CGO West Wing
Lower Albert Road
Hong Kong
Де
Deer heth,
We write on behalf of Members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS) currently serving in the Administrative Service, the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, and other Government Departments in Hong Kong to express our concern about the delay in announcing details of the arrangements which will apply to HMOCS Members when the sovereignty of Hong Kong is transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997.
15.5
P(SP),
11-fak
You will be aware that, since 1984, this matter has been under consideration by Her Majesty's Government
(HMG) in the United Kingdom, and by the Hong Kong Government. In August 1990 the Minister of State, the Earl of Caithness, said he fully recognised the particular concerns of Members of HMOCS in Hong Kong, and accepted that suitable arrangements should be made for them. Minister said he was looking into this as a matter of urgency; his remarks echoed those of Baroness Young, speaking for the Government in the House of Lords, in March 1985.
The
As Members of HMOCS we play a critical role for HMG in sustaining effective administration and stability in Hong Kong during the transition period from British to Chinese sovereignty. Since 1984, we have been waiting for details of how HMG will honour its obligations to HMOCS Members as it did when British administration ceased in other dependent territories, and for an assurance that the Hong Kong Government will actively co-operate in ensuring that these obligations are met.
Page 150Page 151