TNAG-1294-FCO40-1649-Visits-by-members-of-the-Office-of-the-Unofficial-Members-of-1984 — Page 71

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Ms Walker, HKD

HONG KONG AT THE UN: MR MARGOLIS' TELELETTER OF 19 MARCH

I suggest the following reply for Mr Margolis to give to the Editor of the Seventies Magazine in Hong Kong:

1.

2.

'In 1972, the UK decided to cease transmission of information on Hong Kong to the United Nations Secretary-General. The reasons for these are as follows:

The Special Committee on Decolonisation (the Committee of 24) recommended, following the request from the Peoples Republic, of China, that Hong Kong be removed from the list of non self-governing territories dealt with by the Committee. This was endorsed by the General Assembly. HMG decided that no useful practical purpose would be served by continuing to transmit information on Hong Kong under Article 73.E of the United Nations Charter. The UK wrote to the Secretary- General on 14 December 1972 informing him of our decision and put on record that in our view this action by the General Assembly in no way affected the legal status of Hong Kong. The views of the United Kingdom about this status are well-known.

You may recall from your 1982 files that Number 10 made an enquiry precisely on this subject. Mr Clift's submission of 2 December 1982 with a draft reply to Number 10's enquiry is of relevance. I attach a copy for ease of reference. The Chinese request to the Chairman of the Special Committee on Decolonisation and the UK letter to the Secretary-General informing him of our decision to cease transmitting information to the UN are attached to the submission.

You may want to repeat some of the arguments used in the letter to Number 10 in your reply to Mr Margolis.

3.

23 March 1983

HKCK 0.228.

RECENEU

INDEX

ISTRY

29 MAR 1984

OFFICER

MJ Ward

United Nations Department K 155

233 3547

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cc: Miss Foulds, Research Department (WITH ENES)

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