TNAG-0651-FCO40-799-Interests-of-UK-Labour-Party-and-trade-unions-in-labour-affa-1977 — Page 31

CONFIDENTIAL

HONG KONG

Status

1.

Hong Kong is a colony consisting of three areas:

(a) Hong Kong Island, which China ceded to Britain

in perpetuity in 1852 by the Treaty of Nanking;

(b) Kowloon and Stonecutters Islands, which were

similarly ceded in 1860 by the First Convention of Peking; and

(c)

The New Territories, which China leased to Britain for 99 years in 1898 by the Second Convention of Peking.

The Formal Constitution

2. As a colony, the Secretary of State for Foreign and

Commonwealth Affairs is directly responsible to Parliament for the government of Hong Kong. The Constitution is contained in the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions.

These

3. Under the Constitution, the Governor has wide powers. include the power to make laws (called Ordinances in Hong Kong) for the "peace, order and good government of the colony". The Crown reserves the power of disallowance in respect of all Ordinances enacted in Hong Kong and to legislate for the colony by In practice, no post-war British Government has

Order-in-Council.

exercised the power to legislate for Hong Kong.

4. The Governor is advised by an Executive Council (known as ExCo) of 14 members comprising five ex-officio members and nine others who may be either Official (ie: a member of the Hong Kong Government) or Unofficial. The ex-officio members are:

•

Commander of the British Forces

Chief Secretary

Attorney-General

/ Secretary

CONFIDENTIAL