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HKA 406/1
18 St. 1993
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Mr Whitney
FROM:
PF Ricketts
Hong Kong Department
DATE:
13 September 1993
17
STATUS OF HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE IN LONDON AFTER 1997
1. As you know, Brian Chau and Regina Дp invited me to lunch in Hong Kong on 9 September to lobby me about this issue.
2. Mr Chau was initially rather emotional. He said that he was surprised by the comment in my letter of January 1993 to John Yaxley that it was up to HKG to justify the need for privileges and immunities for the office in London post-1997. After all that Hong Kong had provided for the UK, did they really have to justify this? etc etc.
3.
When he had got this off his chest, I explained the difficulties of securing parliamentary time, and consequently the need to make a case to Ministers that there was a practical requirement. In further discussion it emerged that the main points from Mr Chau's point of view were that:
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4.
HKG were seeking the separate status, with privileges and immunities, for their offices in the US, Brussels and eventually Japan and other places. It was not helpful in this process to have to confirm that the UK were not planning to give such immunities to the office in London.
There were some practical difficulties
(unidentified) with HKGO people representing Hong Kong at IMO meetings in London (where they were the only delegates without privileges and immunities).
Possibly some other practical disadvantages.
We eventually left it that Ms 1p would gather material on what specific problems might arise if the office did not have privileges and immunities post-1997. They will then write to us making a case. In the meantime, I undertook that we would double-check that there was no existing legislation under which we could give even partial Ps and Is to the office without the need for new legislation. Could you perhaps ask Protocol Department and Legal Advisers to look again at this issue?
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whitney13.9/MIN/NJH
RESTRICTED