Sir Antony Acland KCMG KCVO
Permanent Under-Secretary of State
CONFIDENTIAL
Sir Edward Youde GCMG MBE HONG KONG
Am 411 16
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
10 JAN 1936
INT
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
7 November 1985
Wi
DE
HKM 040/307
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i -GISTRY
Taken
Dear Teddy
CONSULATE-GENERAL AND RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION IN HONG KONG AFTER 1997
1
You will remember that, when I visited Hong Kong in June, we discussed the question of finding a suitable site for the Consulate-General in Hong Kong after 1 July 1997. You suggested that we first establish the precise legal position on the ownership of Crown property in Hong Kong and whether HMG could retain some title to the land after 1997. It was also suggested that the existing site and buildings of HMS Tamar might be suitable for the Consulate-General.
2 Our legal advice is that there is nothing in international law which would entitle us to retain title in Crown land in Hong Kong after 1997. The present and reversionary interests of the Crown in land will pass to the PRC (or SAR) on 1 July 1997 whether the land is held by the Crown in right of Hong Kong or in right of the United Kingdom. There might be exceptions for sub-leases of land granted to third parties, but in our Legal Adviser's opinion there is no sure way of acquiring a secure title for "representational" property after 1997 without the cooperation of the Chinese Government. even conceivable that the Chinese might insist that the Consulate-General be held on a renewable annual lease, as with the Embassy in Peking and the Consulate-General in Shanghai.
It is
CONFIDENTIAL
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