TNAG-1401-FCO40-1873-Future-of-Hong-Kong-continued-participation-in-the-General-A-1985 — Page 137

CONFIDENTIAL & B

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(a)

parries the question of China's

membership in the GATT;

(b) avoids having to involve Hong Kong

(c)

(a)

in negotiation of entry terms with

the Contracting Parties;

enables Hong Kong to acquire separate

GATT status at any time mutually

acceptable to China, the UK and

Hong Kong through a declaration by

the United Kingdom; and

once Hong Kong became a separate

contracting party under the GATT

Article XXVI 5(c) procedure, there

is reason to believe that the mere

change of sovereignty in 1997

would not in itself have any effect

upon Hong Kong's GATT rights or upon

its de facto/de jure status in the GATT.

9.

The observation at (d) above is based

on informal soundings by the United Kingdom

Mission in Geneva, together with the Counsellor

(Hong Kong), of the GATT Secretariat Legal

;

Section on a hypothetical basis. Their view

was that if Hong Kong became a contracting

party under Article XXVI 5(c) procedure, there

would be no question of that contracting party

status ceasing solely by virtue of the change

of sovereignty in 1997. Only if Hong Kong's

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