Revised Paragraph 5.
5. On the narrower question of the transmission
of information to the Secretary-General under
Article 73(e) of the Charter, however, I am advised
that there can be no question about the position.
The obligations contained in Article 73 are based not
on the exercise of sovereignty but on the exercise
of administrative responsibility. As the report of
the Special Committee was due to be considered by
the General Assembly of the United Nations at this
current Session, instructions were prepared for the
U.K. delegation as to the attitude they should adopt
should the representative of China repeat in the
Fourth Committee or in Plenary Session of the General
The
its
Assembly his remarks concerning the Kowloon and the
which he New Territories made in the Special Committee. These
instructions were as follows:
"If this question is reopened in the Fourth
Committee, the United Kingdom representative
should again reserve his Government's position,
indicating that His Majesty's Government will
certainly continue to transmit information under
Article 73(e) of the Charter in respect of the
New Territories and Kowloon. If he feels it
necessary he should draw attention to the
precise wording of Article 73 which refers to
"Members of the United Nations which have or
assume responsibilities for the administration
of territories whose peoples have not yet
attained a full measure of self-government
The article does not raise the question of
sovereignty, but concerns itself with the
exercise of administrative responsibility.
The representative of the United Kingdom can
point out that his Government is responsible for
the administration of the Leased Territories
and therefore deems it appropriate, by the terms
/of