TNAG-0753-FCO40-957-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 69

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BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS HONG KONG IN THE 1980'S

I.

Introduction

This would briefly establish that since independence for

Hong Kong is ruled out, and since withdrawal would almost

certainly have very damaging consequences for British

interests Britain's overall aim should be to remain as the

administering power in mong long, indefinitely, notwith-

standing our normal policy of seeking to disengage

wherever possible from our remaining colonial

res

Anities. The introduction would also dismiss

as unrealistic thought of a compromise solution based

on treatin

entities,

CA

2

ng Kong an the New Territories as separate

uld make it plain that the mole paper is

based on the assumption that the Chinese Government would

continue to follow the reasonable, pragmatic course on

which they appear set at present.

11.

The Unavoidable Froblems

This section will identify those problems which it will be

essential to solve if British rule is to be maintained

for the rest of this century and perhaps beyond. Most of

these problems derive from the fact that the New

Territories Lease expires on 1 July 1997. They include:

a) land leases in the New Territories;

b) the need to ensure that the right of the

Government to legislate for the New Territories

after 1997 will not be open to challenge in the

Hong Kong Courts;

It will also be necessary to ensure that by tackling these

specific problems we shall be doing enough to dispel the

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/general