TNAG-0123-FCO40-159-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1971 — Page 145

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necessity to preserve its own authority in Hong Kong and the need not to antagonise China to such an extent that the latter is driven to change her policy of tacit acceptance of the

So far this balance has been achieved with

status quo.

remarkable success.

Effect of the approach of 1997

46. Quite apart from the possibilities discussed in the preceding paragraphs of the Chinese seeking to eject us from Hong Kong before 1997, the very existence of a date on which the lease of the New Territories expires is already beginning

to cast its shadow before it. This shadow will, in the best circumstances, grow increasingly large and the life of Hong Kong, both economic and social, will be come increasingly

stunted.

47. Annex B sets out some of the effects of the approach of 1997, including some which are already apparent.

48. As these effects become more marked Hong Kong may require assistance from the U.K. in a number of ways (possibly economic assistance if industry and trade stagnates, the buttressing

of the civil service and action to ensure that communications with the outside world are maintained at an appropriate level).

Departments of H.M.G. should give sympathetic recognition to these needs as they develop.

49.

Further study of this factor will be required in consultation with a wider circle in Hong Kong than can be associated with the preparation of this paper. Given the limited circle within which, for security reasons, the study must be confined, it must be accepted that the outcome will

not be a study in depth.

50. Another aspect of the approach of 1997 is the bearing this has on the social policies which we pur sue in the

meantime. Here we are faced with a dilemma. We must

administer the Colony in a manner which accords with our own concepts of social justice, while we must at the same time recognise that to do so)will widen the gap between Hong Kong

and China and will make the transition to Chinese rule more

difficult and painful.

indeed moral problem.

Hong Kong.

This is a tough practical, and Further study will be necessary in

/F. AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT

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