TNAG-0525-FCO40-620-Visit-of-UK-Members-of-Parliament-(Defence-and-External-Affa-1975 — Page 24

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Chorked

A. ( Horley) The year 1979 hes official relevance, but one canot just

write it off. Everything would tun on the political relations between

the three erbers of the tripartite interest.

Q. We are only 20 years away. Is there no contingency planning for

events that may well occur in 1997? A. (ie Cheaffe) I think one would

start by an cpression of the Chinese Governments attitude to the problen.

This was given public expression in a letter of the 3th March 1972 fron

Ако

the pornnent representative to the United Nations to the Chrimen' of the Sspecial Comittee on Decolonisation of the Soneral Assembly, and the rolevant

extract goes as follows:

and Macao belong to the category of questions resulting from the series

unlqual

muties of treaties left over by history which the imperialists inposed on China.

Hong Kong rnd lacao are part of Chinese temitory occupied by the British

and Portuguese authorities. The settlement of the questions of Hong Kong

and lacao is entirely within the Chindscovereign right, and does not at all

fall under the ordinary category of colonial teritories........With regard to the

questions of Hong Kong and laceo, the Chinese Government has consistently

held that they should be settled in an appropriate way when conditions 19 upe

"is is Imown to all, the questions of Hong Hong

right".

Romadagy

Q. If the Chinese do insist on the terms of the treaty that would mean

that all that territory north of Sealey Street would revert to the Republic,

but we understand from the Governor in Hong Kong, and we have had this

confirmed again today, that without the new territories Kowloon and Hong Kong

might just as well cease to exist because they will be unviable without the

new territories. In that case is it likely that if the Chinese insist on

the full implementation of the 1976 treaty, if that is the date, they may

as well take the whole of Hong Kong and not merely the new territories?

1. It follows for the statement that the Chinese representative nade

in the United Nations that they see no distinction between these treaties

under which Hong Kong was set up,

, end

nd frankly it is impossible at this

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