TNAG-1037-FCO40-1287-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 112

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ship of Hong Kong belongers.

Negotiations involving

recognition of Chinese sovereignty would need to take account

of the legal rights and obligations incurred by HMG in respect

of Hong Kong under international agreements.

Agreement could

be sought from the Chinese by which China would take over

}

existing obligations and agree to consult HMG before entering

into new ones in respect of Hong Kong.

14. The position over sovereignty is complicated by the

differing legal status of Hong Kong and the Kowloon Peninsula

on the one hand and the New Territories on the other. The

former were ceded to the British Crown by the Treaty of

Nanking (1842) and the Convention of Peking (1860) respect-

ively. The latter were leased for a period of 99 years

under the Convention of Peking (1898). There is thus a

clear (though unstated) understanding that whether or not

British acquired 'sovereign rights' in the New Territories,

sovereignty would be resumed by China on expiry of the Lease.

This was implicit in the Order in Council of 20 October 1898

which declared the New Territories to be 'part and parcel

of Her Majesty's Colony of Hong Kong' for the term described'.

*

in the Convention of June 1898.* A statement accepting

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