TNAG-1142-FCO40-1422-Hong-Kong-and-the-Falkland-Islands-crisis-1982 — Page 132

1

LIKK 020/2

RECEIVED MY NEI

45 APR ?

DIV OG

RIDEX

Mr Clift

15/4

CONFIDENTIAL

Hong Kong and General Dept Room K 246

Jes.

I will

Welkam 14.4

a! think the word's

4

below is what was

ciclmand in the Quot As. submitted. Pre Cheek my file copy

A 1314

Ps

HONG KONG AFTER THE FALKLAND ISLANDS' CRISIS

1.

We agreed this morning that if News Department is asked what is the legal basis of the British position in Hong Kong the following answer would suffice:-

"The New Territories are leased, and all other areas of the dependency are ceded to the United Kingdom."

If pressed, News Department could add:-

2.

"The relevant Treaties are the Treaty signed at Nangking on 29 August 1842, the Convention signed at Pekin on 24 October 1860 and the Convention signed at Peking on 9 June 1898."

I think we agreed that it was not in our interest to go out of our way to invite public attention to the details of the 1842 and 1860 agreements. They are reticent about a number of off shore islands, other than Stonecutters Island, and the 1860 Convention refers only to part of the Kowloon Peninsula. In drawing your attention to these points I do not question that we have sovereignty over all parts of the dependency other than the leased territories. My only object is to point out that the agreements do not tell the whole story.

8 April 1982

7. Bunows

F Burrows

Legal Counsellor

CONFIDENTIAL