TNAG-0850-FCO40-1060-Future-of-Hong-Kong-New-Territories-leases-1979 — Page 61

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SECRET

with by general assurances; and that if the Chinese do not like

our proposed solution another will have to be found sooner

rather than later.

OFFICIAL CHINESE REPRESENTATION IN HONG KONG

12. There is one longstanding Chinese request which may be

raised by Hua, or more probably by the Chinese Foreign

Minister: the question of the appointment of an official

Chinese representative in Hong Kong. This was first raised

during the 1950s and was pursued with some persistence in the

early 1970s. It was then soft-pedalled for some years until

the Foreign Minister raised it with the Governor in March,

warning that it would be taken up with Dr Owen during the

visit which he then planned to make in May. The Chinese have

argued that the appointment of an official representative is

long overdue; and that the function of the representative

would be to improve cooperation rather than cause trouble for

the Hong Kong administration. The British response has

consistently been that the time is not ripe for such a

development. This line has been taken largely for fear that

a Chinese representative would become an alternative focus of

authority in the territory, and that his appointment would be

misinterpreted by local opinion as preparatory to disengagement.

13. [Not for use] These arguments have lost some of their

force in the last few years. But the appointment of an

official Chinese representative would be a major concession

and we should not agree to it except in return for a Chinese

concession of real substance (eg as part of a package in which

we received bankable assurance on the continuance of British

administration in Hong Kong after 1997). It should certainly

not be conceded immediat after the Chinese rejection of our

/proposals

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