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after 1997. But the action would be purely permissive. That is to say, its only effect would be to permit such administration to continue under British law if, at the time, the Chinese Government so wished. It would not in any way prejudice what those wishes would be.
To deal with these two aspects of the problem it will be necessary to pass a law on land leases in Hong Kong and, in support of that, issue an Order in Council. The latter is a legal step which does not have to be submitted to Parliament for approval. Our present intention is to announce the steps we propose to take when the Governor opens the Hong Kong Legislative Council in October. In doing so the Governor would naturally make it clear that these steps were intended to meet the local legal problem; that they were without prejudice to the Chinese position on Hong Kong; and they were not intended to pre-judge in any way what particular course of action with regard to the future of the territory might be pursued by either a present or a future Chinese
Government.
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