IN CONFIDENCE
28 April 1992
MD Cartland Esq Chairman
HKP 233/1
ven IN REGISTR
1 MAY 1992
The Association of Members of HMOCS.
HONG KONG
Dear A Cartland,
258
"ON DRO
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SW1A 2AH
2 Telephone: 071-
Thank you for your letter of 22 April enclosing the comments of the Committee of the Hong Kong HMOCS Association in response to the opening statement which I gave you and Mr Birch on 7 April 1992. As you expected we have also received a large number of letters from individual members of HMOCS. We are carefully considering all the points raised in preparation for our forthcoming discussions with you and other Association representatives on the details of the proposals outlined in the statement. We are grateful for your agreement that these discussions should begin on Thursday 7 May.
In order to avoid any misunderstanding, we think it right to make two points clear at this stage about our meetings next week. The first point is that Ministers have already considered whether HMG should seek to arrange for Hong Kong members of HMOCS to be entitled to retire with immediate payment of pension after the change of sovereignty. Final decisions will not be taken until the conclusion of our consultations, but Ministers' present view is that, given Hong Kong's special circumstances and the existing provisions of Hong Kong pensions legislation, this would not be appropriate. We shall be happy to explain the reasoning in more detail when we meet and to listen to any additional points you wish to make on the subject. However you should not expect us to bring any new proposal in this regard.
The second point relates to your concern about the sterling value of pensions after the change of sovereignty. The position here remains that the question is still under consideration and that we cannot predict when decisions will be taken or in what sense. It is clear however that we shall not be in a position to say any more on this subject when we meet next week.
Your
sincerely, Niger Coro.
N J Cox
Hong Kong Department
NC2ACS
IN CONFIDENCE
D
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