CONFIDENTIAL
Ms Shelagh Brooks Legal Advisers
HKC 370/17
Reference
File
ADAPTATION OF LAWS:
CROWN IN RELATION TO LAND AND NATURAL
RESOURCES: AND OTHER JLG MATTERS
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1. I attach Hong Kong telno 2751. Hong Kong want to have our comments on their draft consultation paper on the above subject by 30 November.
2.
As you pointed out yesterday there has been a sudden flurry of papers from Hong Kong which have all had short deadlines for clearance. This is straining our resources and there is a risk that subjects will not receive the attention they deserve. Given that UK/China relations are at a low ebb and that there will be very little progress at next month's JLG, it is hard to see the need to rush papers through the system in order to hand them to the Chinese. Certainly we should retain the momentum of the technical relationship in the JLG but this should not mean that we do not have enough time to check things properly.
3
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The following Hong Kong papers are with us at the moment:
i) Adaptation of laws: Crown/land and natural resources ii) Adaptation of laws: list of items affecting the Crown iii) Localisation of laws: can-lapse list
iv) IRO sub-group: political and diplomatic treaties
v) Surrender of Fugitive Offenders: consultation paper
Item (ii) is with Royal Matters Unit, items (i), (iii) and (iv) are with yourself, and item (v) will be with you when we receive the consultation paper in question. Item (v) also has a 30 November deadline even though we haven't yet received the paper!
4. I think we ought to ask Hong Kong to be more patient with non-urgent items. Clearing papers with FCO Legal Advisers is not a tedious formality: it is extremely important and time for it must be built into the process of preparing these papers. Subject to your views I think the best thing might be to suggest to Hong Kong that items (i) and (v) can wait until JLG XXV to be handed over, as we are not going to get a substantive response from the Chinese in the space of one week.
5. In the meantime I wonder whether Mr Chamberlain would be willing to take on the papers on the Crown in relation to land and natural resources? He looked over the papers in your absence
CODE 18-77
CONFIDENTIAL
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