TNAG-1041-FCO40-1291-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 82

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specific pledge for Hong Kong comparable to that made to the

Gibraltarians. It is, of course, true that successive British

Governments have reaffirmed their commitment to the people of Hong

Kong but the nature of this has not been made clear. This is

because of the realities of our position in Hong Kong which would

make any undertaking to defend the Territory to the last quite

illusory. People in Hong Kong understand this. They want the

present position to continue so far as possible under a British

umbrella but there is no reason to suppose that they regard

sovereignty in itself as the key point. A concession on sovereignty

would therefore be a price worth paying for the removal of uncertainty

and the maintenance of a form of British administration for as long

as possible beyond 1997. Thus with this option HMG would stand a

change of obtaining a realistic arrangement for Hong Kong, which would

assist our relations with the Chinese and be a considerable foreign

policy success. Without it we would have little effective bargaining

power.

While

14. The departmental Legal Adviser considers that a relinquishment

of sovereignty would require an Act of Parliament. An agreement

would also be necessary between the United Kingdom and China.

an important international issue of this kind would normally be

covered in a formal Treaty, it might be possible for the United

Kingdom to effect its renunciation of sovereignty and continuing

British administration by means of a simple endorsement by China

which could be made public if necessary. Such a change would not

prevent Hong Kong British Dependent Territories' Citizens from

retaining their nationality status or their children from acquiring

it. Nor would it invalidate international treaties or the continuance

of Hong Kong's separate currency.

/15. The

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