TNAG-1377-FCO40-1825-Future-of-Hong-Kong-legislation-Hong-Kong-Bill-1985 — Page 126

CONFIDENTIAL

Subsection

force

on

1(2) provides for this clause of the Bill

the exchange of

of instruments

to come into

ratification,

which

paragraph 8 of the Joint Declaration states must take place before 30 June 1985. The exact date on which instruments of ratification will be exchanged is not yet known, and will depend both on the date on which this Bill receives Royal Assent, and on the date when the

date of the exchange of

instruments of ratification will be notified in the London Gazette

in order to avoid the Secretary

of State being presented with

repeated requests to certify that date, eg for the purposes of iitigation in the UK courts

Chinese

are

ready το

ratify.

The

We

an

Some members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong remain convinced that we should deal with the termination of sovereignty by a clause

enabling an Order in Council to be made at a later stage, perhaps much nearer to 1997. This was an option that we considered earlier

in discussion with EXCO. We were well aware of the presentational

advantages in Hong Kong of withholding the Order until after the publication by the Chinese Government of the Basic Law for Hong

Kong, which must enshrine the provisions of the agreement. accordingly considered a scheme whereby ratification preceded Order in Council divesting the UK of sovereignty. The Attorney General however advised that such a scheme was acceptable if (but

only if) the Order was not in any way subject to Parliamentary

approval.

parliamentary managers agree that Parliament could indeed seek to retain control by making the Order subject to affirmative or negative procedures. Ministers therefore decided to

deal with the termination of sovereignty by a clause in the Bill

itself. Presentation apart, there is no practica! difference

between the two possible courses.

I f the Chinese were to commit

fundamental breach of the

of the agreement Parliament could be asked

to repeal the Hong Kong Act, including its

s ome

The

termination of

provisions for

s ame effect as

sovereignty. This would have the

Such

a

Given the

declining to approve an Order in Council.

however very

unlikely to arise.

reversion to China of the New Territories

to see what our action would achieve.

situation

is

the

inevitability of

in 1997, it is also hard

CONFIDENT I AL