TNAG-1254-FCO40-1587-Third-countries-and-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 178

SECRET

جانیں

267

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

HKK040/5

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

50 AUG 1983

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

A C Galworthy Esq PEKING

Dear Tony,

PA

REGISTRY

Action Taken

CMaila

HKK 040/5

26 August 1983

ANDORRA: POSSIBLE PRECEDENT FOR FUTURE OF HONG KONG

234

1. Thank you for your teleletter of 8 August. You will now have seen Eric Vines' letter of 17 August reporting the story in the Spanish National Daily ''El Pais'' of 15 August. This may bear out your suspicions about the real reason for Chinese interest in Andorra. They are obviously busying themselves in all directions.

2. I enclose, with a copy of their covering minute, a copy of the paper on Andorra which Research Department have prepared. Attractive though the concept of seigneurie en paréage may be, I do find it difficult to envisage the Chinese regarding Andorra as the perfect blueprint for Hong Kong's future. As you say, the sovereignty aspect would not appeal to them as they have ruled out the possibility of any joint sovereignty over Hong Kong. Moreover, such a proposal would have little to commend it to HMG.

3. From the scant information we have about China's thoughts on elections on Hong Kong, it is unlikely that these would be modelled on paragraph 5 of Research Department's paper. Paragraph 4 might, however, hint at China's scheme of things, describing as it does, a limited franchise and an effective right of veto on all ''important decisions''.

4. There would be a foreign relations precedent (paragraph 6 of Research Department's paper) in that China would almost certainly seek to represent Hong Kong internationally. Another interesting point arising from the Andorra model is that international treaties and conventions extend to the Principality only in certain prescribed circumstances. Moreover, in terms of international law, Andorra has no ''independent personality''.

Yours

cc: R P Margolis Esq, DPA Hong Kong

Mr Burrows, Legal Advisers

Mr Thomson, FED

Mr Walker, Research Department Miss Boreland, Research Dept

Dich

R D Clift

Hong Kong Department

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