CO537-3707 — Page 186

4.

The following are comments arising

from discussion of the Chinese proposal here:-

(a) if there is to be an office in the Garden

it should be a joint office for both Trustees (or else each Trustee should have his own office there);

(b) the British Trustee should be appointed by the Hong Kong Government; perhaps both Trustees should be appointed jointly by both Governments,

(c) the Chinese may well wish to nominate

the Special Commissioner (Mr. Kwok) as their Tustee; it would be desirable for the Hong Kong representative to be a person of comparable standing who could at the same time effectively make use of the Trustees' office to the extent necessary to prevent its appearing to be a purely Chinese office, if a gont office

would such a person h available?

suggested for melusion in (a) [the effect of] the provisions be introduced

by the Exchange of Notes could not, of course be kept secret;

(e)

(f)

(g)

in paragraph 1 under the heading "Exchange of

Notes" the words "administration of" should be substituted for the words "maintenance of order in";

Hong Kong legislation would be necessary to

give the force of law to the arrangements proposed in this paragraph, to which with the amendment mentioned in (e) above there is perhaps no great objection;

were kended upon.

Paragraph 2 under the heading "Exchange of Notes"

presents the greatest difficulty (apart from the major objection referred to in paragraph 3 above). I am advised that there night would be no insuperable legal difficulty

in devising the machinery, t practical difficulties would inevitably arise

for example were sedition or similar offences were

if

(send inflamed)

involved. In such cases Trustees would probably disagree and, while residents of China would be those most likely to cause this kind of trouble, they would be the very ones not amenable to Hong Kong jurisdiction. It might be of some use to provide both in

any agreement with the Chinese and in the by-laws that, in view of the purpose for which the Garden had been established, no political activity of any kind could be permitted in it;

(h) For the last word "domicile" the words "ordinary

residence" would be betterpreferable;

(i)