TNAG-1390-FCO40-1862-Future-of-Hong-Kong-briefing-for-meetings-and-visits-1985 — Page 30

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DRAFT BRIEFING FOR VISIT BY TRADE AND INDUSTRY SELECT COMMITTEE TO

CHINA AND HONG KONG, 25 APRIL TO

ON HONG KONG

10 MAY 1985: POLITICAL BACKGROUND

A.

HONG KONG: CONSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND

1.

Hong Kong consists of:

(a) Hong Kong Island, ceded by China in perpetuity by the Treaty of

Nanking (1842);

(b) the Kowloon peninsula and Stonecutters' Island, similarly ceded

in 1860 by the First Convention of Peking; and

(c) the New Territories, which China leased to Britain for 99 years

in 1898 by the Second Convention of Peking. Its total land area is

1,064 square kilometres and it has a population of over 5.3 million,

of whom 98% are Chinese. The New Territories account for

approximately 92% of Hong Kong's total

total area and more than 50% of its

total population.

2.

Hong Kong is a Dependent Territory and the Secretary of State

for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is responsible to Parliament

for its government. The Territory is administered by a Governor,

with the help of an Executive Council and a Legislative Council.

As Hong Kong is a dependent territory, there is no British Embassy

there. British trade interests are dealt with by the British Trade

Commission, which also coverS trade with Macao. Included within the

Commission is a China Trade Unit which is responsible for trade with

China through Hong Kong, and also, under the supervision of the

British Embassy in Peking, for promoting British trade with the

provinces of southern China.

3. The Governor, who represents the Crown, is the head of

government and has the power

to make laws (called "ordinances") for

the "peace, order and good government" of Hong Kong. His authority

derives from the Letters Patent and the Royal Instructions. The

Crown reserves the power

to disallow ordinances enacted in Hong Kong

and to legislate for the Territory by Order in Council.

In

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