TNAG-1395-FCO40-1867-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-debates-1985 — Page 51

CONFIDENTIAL

CLAUSE ONE

Clause 1 provides for the

termination of British sovereignty over

the ceded parts of Hong Kong and the termination of British

jurisdiction over the whole territory as from 1 July 1997.

The purpose of this clause is to implement HMG's commitment in

paragraph 2 of the Joint Declaration to restore Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China with effect from I July 1997. Neither

the Joint Declaration nor the Bill seek to resolve the controversial

legal and historical questions relating to Hong Kong's present

status. The Chinese insist that the three treaties relating to Hong

Kong concluded between the British and Chinese Governments in the nineteenth century are invalid. In their view they have always had

sovereignty over the whole of Hong Kong, and are merely resuming the

exercise of it. We regard the treaties as valid. We therefore

differentiate between the territories ceded by the 1842 Treaty of

Nanking and the 1860 Convention of Peking (over which Her Majesty has sovereignty), and the New Territories leased for 99 years under

the Convention of 1898. We could have drawn a distinction in the

Bill between these two parts, providing for termination o f

sovereignty over the ceded territories, while letting our lease over

the New Territories expire by effluxion of time on 30 June 1997. Το

do SO would however simply draw attention to matters which are

disputed between the British and Chinese sides, and which the

agreement itself successfully sets on one side. The Chinese would

no doubt take offence and seek to place their Own view on record.

The Bill therefore simply states that HMG shall no longer have

sovereignty or jurisdiction over any part

part of Hong Kong as from 1

July 1997. The words 'no longer' are a muted assertion of our present claims to sovereignty and jurisdiction.

Subsection (1) is the principal provision of the Bill. It provides for the termination of sovereignty and jurisdiction. Its language is based partly on the precedent of Section 1 of the Cyprus Act 1960

("and on that day

Her Majesty shall have no sovereignty or

jurisdiction over the Republic of Cyprus").

CONFIDENTIAL