TNAG-0843-FCO40-1053-Visit-of-Lord-Carrington--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-and-1979 — Page 67

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fall into the British Overseas Citizen category). Although

the change would make no practical difference, it would be

interpreted by local people as a weakening of the British

commitment to Hong Kong.

The Governor raised this matter with Home Office Ministers

during his visit and was told that although no decisions

had been taken the present plan was to introduce legislation

on 1977 Green Paper lines around the end of the year. We

will be recommending that the Secretary of State take up

the question with the Home Secretary. The need is to find

some way of meeting the concerns of Hong Kong and other de-

pendent territories without affecting the substance of the

proposal legislation.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN HONG KONG

Capital punishment has not been abolished in Hong Kong but

there have been no executions since 1966: all capital

sentences since then have been commuted by the Governor.

In 1973, a case arose in which he originally decided not to

commute. But when an appeal for clemency was addressed to

the Queen, the then Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary,

Sir Alec Douglas-Home, decided that he could not advise the

Queen to allow the law to take its course (at the time the

House of Commons was considering the question of capital

punishment in Northern Ireland and Sir Alec Douglas-Home

felt that it would be impossible in the circumstances to

/allow

CONFIDENTIAL