PELICT
CONFIDENTIAL
sta pad
File S
11 February 1992
Kevin Woodfield Esq
HM Treasury
Parliament Street
London
SW1
Dear Kevin,
HONG KONG HMOCS
HKA 233/1
43
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SWIA 2AH
Telephone: 071-
1. Thank you for your letter of 7 February which I received this morning. Lord Caithness had already seen our paper in its previous version, but we were able to incorporate most of the amendments you proposed before it reached the Secretary of State again.
2.
The most urgent operational task is to discuss your ideas for the compensation scheme. We agreed by telephone to be in touch about this tomorrow. Meanwhile, I note that our proposals have been on the table since August; in the autumn your colleagues raised the possibility of targeting the compensation, and we explained the objections; and I gather that neither Sandra Brown nor Don Rayson pursued this idea during their visit to Hong Kong in December.
3. May I pick up a few points from your letter. First, it remains our view that, quite apart from needing to encourage HMOCS members to stay on after 1997, HMG have an obligation
that they are appropriately compensated for the loss of the Secretary of State's protection and, to a certain extent, of career prospects on the transfer of sovereignty in 1997. Our then Secretary of State made this clear in his minute to the Chancellor of 24 November 1988.
4. I cannot accept your interpretation of the two White Papers that compensation is relevant only where HMOCS officers face premature retirement. Indeed the 1960 White Paper refers specifically to the payment of compensation in circumstances "where officers are free to continue in service". It may well be argued that Hong Kong HMOCS officers should receive additional compensation since we shall not be honouring the clear commitment in the white Paper to ensure that they are entitled to retire in 1997 with early payment of pension.>
And
.The extent of our obligation is also affected by post-1960 practice and statements and the reasonable expectations these have generated. Despite the provisions of the Joint Declaration, I think the career prospects of HMOCS officers are bound to be affected by the change of sovereignty. The Basic Law, adopted by the National People's Congress in Peking in 1990 and to be put into effect as of 1
NC1ABT
JRB
CONFIDENTIAL