TNAG-0752-FCO40-956-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 35

1

HKK 040/1

14 AUG 1978

Po. 31

CONFIDENTIAL

R:

RY

PA

Action Ten

ло

Mr Maturay

Mr Cortazzy

over:

leave

от

I shall be on

81%

16/17 Aug.

Could you please take this on

Study on the New Territories Lease

7

Samany ai/vii

I think we are agreed that we should pursue the problem of how to get round the problem presented by Crown Leases in Hong Kong as a special exercise. You were going to write

to me about the launching of a wider study which in effect would be to up-date the section of the 1976 Planning Paper on Hong Kong which dealt with the China aspect.

I discussed with Mr Samuel yesterday the proposal for handling the Leases set out in my letter to McLaren of 6 July. I quite understand that it is too early for the Office to have reached a view on this and appreciate that the legal aspects are far from easy. However, I am anxious to make progress and, subject to your views, I would like to have a meeting in the Office on either the 16th or 17th August immediately before my return to Hong Kong. I should hope that by then there would have been time to study the legal and political aspects of the proposal and for us to be able to reach a tentative view as to whether the proposal offers the best prospect of success, and,

what further work should be done on it.

if so,

I could make myself available either on the afternoon of the

16th or on the morning of the 17th, though I would have to leave for the airport quite shortly after 11.00 am.

Sir Murray MacLehose

20 July 1978

c.c.

Mr Quantrill

Mr Samuel

Mr Murray

CONFIDENTIAL