TNAG-1040-FCO40-1290-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 140

Mr Friar

refur.

HKGD

ник охор

• NOV 1981

гига

ра

BAGNOHY

PA

Action Takan

DECK OFFICER

ROSX

SECRET

$1, )

?

PAPER ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG

16013/4 Pap 13/4

221A

See 230

See никофоть

With reference to your minute of 4 November, I have made a few amendments and queried the last sentence on page, 6

See Hin

2.

•

040/1@19/2

1982

One cannot say in advance what might be feasible should the UK surrender sovereignty over Hong Kong. A detailed agreement concerning the arrangements for British administration thereafter would have to be worked out and implemented in UK law - as an Act of Parliament would be necessary, this could confer any necessary powers and regulate such matters as the national status of the inhabitants. Obviously the agreed arrangements would have to depend on what was practicable for the UK and acceptable to China. I imagine that the UK objective would be to preserve the existing governmental machine to a large extent and to minimize the scope for Chinese interference. There is no technical reason for not keeping the Governor, the civil service or the garrison, but what would the Chinese tolerate and to what extent would they wish to participate or send in their own functionaries, troops, etc?

3. My own view is that the idea of giving up sovereignty bristles with difficulties and I very much hope that the Chinese can be headed off from making this a condition of extending our administration of the New Territories after 1997. The paper seems pessimistic about this - I hope unduly so.

4. As you know, I wonder whether the UK might be able to drift past 1997 with Chinese sufferance, having previously adjusted its municipal law without trying to force the Chinese into agreeing expressly to a specific change, but this may well be wishful thinking on my part, prompted by my fear of reaction of the Chinese if HMG press them to sign on the dotted line

If the Prime Minister could get the Chinese to agree to some broad proposition about dealing with Hong Kong as a whole on the basis that it is part of China under a British administration that will be terminated by mutual consent when eventually the time is ripe, I still cherish the hope that we might take 1997 out of our Order in Council.

5. Having these views, I do not much care for the emphasis the paper puts on relinquishment of sovereignty. However, the ideas in the paper may be more realistic than my own.

A.R.R.

A R Rushford Deputy Legal Adviser

5 November 1981

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/P.S.