M A Ayers Esq
55 Moor Lane
Holywell
Clwyd
North Wales
RECEIVED
*V
NO. 51
5 MAY 1978
DECK OFFICER
PA
PEG. 3 Action Take
233-4475
5 May 1978
24
I have been asked to reply to your letter of 17 April to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
China ceded Hong Kong Islands, Stonecutters Island and Kowloon to Britain, in perpituity, by the Treaty of Nanking (1852) and the First Convention of Peking (1860). Under the Second Convention of Peking (1898), China leased the New Territories to Britain for 99 years: this lease will run out in 1997.
It is impossible to predict what will happen in 1997, but I would emphasise that Sino/British relations are very good and that there is no reason to anticipate an early change in the status quo.
CRV Stagg
Hong Kong & General Dept
27.
Page 195Page 196
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