HONG KONG AND CHINA
MP MARSHALL
FCO CONTACT: -MR HASWELL, HONG KONG DEPARTMENT
UK Aims
01 270 2652– 3287
1. To ensure that UN and other documents touching on Hong Kong's status are worded accurately so as not to give the Chinese cause for a protest; and to ensure that nay dealings with the Chinese or with a UN Secretariat in that connection are in a low key.
General Guidelines
2.
If there is reason to believe that the UN Secretariat concerned is unaware of the sensitivities over Hong Kong's status, the delegation should endeavour to discuss the matter informally with them before documents are issued. If it is not possible for the delegation to avoid the inclusion of unsuitable references to Hong Kong, the matter should be referred to the FCO immediately.
3.
The delegation should check all relevant UN documents for references to Hong Kong which are inaccurate or likely to cause offence to the Chinese. there should be no reference (even by implication) to Hong Kong as a "country". delegation should also seek to eliminate any reference to Hong Kong as a "colony" or if possible, as a "dependent territory".
4. Our preferred description of Hong Kong is as a "territory". This term should be substituted, if possible, for any description of Hong Kong as an "area". If nonetheless "area" cannot be avoided, the delegation should seek to ensure that this is qualified by reference to "territory" (eg through the use, perhaps as a footnote, of a disclaimer to the type routinely used in UN statistical publications, to the effect that "country or area" covers countries, territories, cities or areas). An unqualified reference to "area" can however be accepted as a last resort.
5. In the unlikely event that the Chinese put on record their own view of Hong Kong's present status, the delegation should be ready to counter this. The rebuttal should be in a low key and should take the same form (eg an oral statement or a formally circulated document) as the Chinese claim. It should be delivered only after consultation with the FCO. full wording of the standard statement of rebuttal is as follows:
The
"With reference to the statement made by the Chinese Representative the UK Representative wished to inform the meeting that his Government's views on this question were clearly stated in the letter addressed by Her Majesty's Representative in new York to the Secretary-general of