TNAG-1142-FCO40-1422-Hong-Kong-and-the-Falkland-Islands-crisis-1982 — Page 129

DRAFT

DSR 11C

1

HONG KONG AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS

Question:

What is the legal basis of the British position

in Hong Kong?

Answer:

The New Territories are leased and all other areas of the

Dependency are ceded to the United Kingdom.

[If pressed] The relevant Treaties are the Treaty of

Nanking, signed on 29 August 1842, the first Convention

of Peking, signed on 24 October 1860, and the second

Convention of Peking, signed on 9 June 1898.

Questions on Sovereignty:

Answer:

The present arrangements have the full agreement of the

Chinese and British Governments and are working well.

Question:

Does HMG intend to stand by its commitment to

Hong Kong and its people?

Answer :

Yes, Ministers have on many occasions made clear that our

constitutional responsibility to Hong Kong and its people

remains undiminished.

/Question