CONFIDENTIAL
HONG KONG POLICY COMMITTEE
Establishment
DRAFT
The establishment of the Committee under my
chairmanship was announced in London on 25th February 1970. The Committee held its first full meeting on 16th March and its eighth (and last before the General Election) on 11th May.
Terms of Reference
The terms of reference of the Committee were:
"To study British policy towards Hong Kong in the light of the economic, constitutional, and social problems of the Colony, and to make recommendations for action by a Conservative Government".
In the time available the Committee was able to consider only a limited number of subjects and these in varying detail. The subjects and the recommendations of the Committee on each are as follows:
1.
The Lease
Recommendation 1
Recommendations
The lease and the future of Hong Kong. (See Annex 2)
China does not recognise the legal validity of the cession to Britain of Hong Kong island and Kowloon, nor the lease of the New Territories which expires in 1997. But Hong Kong presents no threat to her and is useful economically and in other ways.
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From the angle of British policy, the four million inhabitants of Hong Kong - over 98% Chinese are beginning to be influenced by the approach of the end of the lease. In due course, too, business confidence, on which Hong Kong's whole economy depends, will inevitably come increasingly under the same influence.
It is recommended that while no overt action should be taken, strictly confidential assessments should be made annually to gauge the practicability of some approach to China about renegotiation of the lease. Present indications are that it will be some years before there can be any significant change
in the present nosition.
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Private notes are available after approval.