TNAG-0525-FCO40-620-Visit-of-UK-Members-of-Parliament-(Defence-and-External-Affa-1975 — Page 47

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CONFIDENTIAL

Pw

Is the future of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories

entirely bound up together?

As the Sub-Committee will be aware from their briefing

in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island was ceded in perpetuity to Britain by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842; and the Kowloon peninsula and Stonecutters Island ceded in perpetuity by the First Convention of Peking in 1860. The New Territories (including New Kowloon) were leased to Britain by the Second Convention of Peking in 1898 for a 99 year term.

The Chinese Government's attitude found public expression in a letter dated 8 March 1972 from the Permanent Representative of China to the Chairman of the Special Committee of the UN General Assembly. The relevant extract is as follows:

"As is known to all, the questions of Hong Kong and Macau belong to the category of questions resulting from the series of unequal treaties left over by history, treaties which the imperialists imposed on China. Hong Kong and Macau are part of Chinese territory occupied by the British and Portuguese authorities. The settlement of the questions of Hong Kong and Macau is entirely within China's sovereign right and does not at all fall under the ordinary category of "colonial Territories".

...

With regard to the questions of Hong Kong and Macau, the Chinese Government has

consistently held that they should be settled in an appropriate way when conditions are ripe."

(Sidelined)

It is impossible at this stage to forecast the likely attitudes to Hong Kong of Chinese Governments in the future.

They have told us privately that they are satisfied with the present status quo and that the problem of Hong Kong is for a future generation to solve. HMG have no doubt as to the legal validity of the three Treaties but clearly the future of Hong Kong is dependent upon the continuing goodwill of China. The logic of the present Chinese Government's position seems to point towards their regarding the future of the three areas being indivisible.

CONFIDENTIAL

/hre