TNAG-1834-FCO40-2608-Sensitivity-review-of-Hong-Kong-Government-records-1988 — Page 37

COHAHS

HKD 444).

RECEIVE

2 0 OCT 1988

Sensitivity Review Unit,

LRD

SECRET

From:

CO Hum

Hong Kong Department

keń

Date:

20 October 1988

SENSITIVITY REVIEW OF FCO RECORDS: HONG KONG

47

1.

2.

Thank you for passing to me file number CO 129/571 of 1938.

The file contains papers relating to a proposal by the then

Governor of Hong Kong that for the sum of £20m the lease on the New Territories should be extended or purchased outright. I assume

that when these papers were first reviewed in about 1967 it was

concluded that they were too sensitive for release because the

question of the future of Hong Kong remained unresolved.

though the question has now been settled by the signature of the

Joint Declaration, I have concluded that the file should continue to

be withheld from the public.

3.

Even

I recognise that intrinsically the papers on the file are

little more than an historical curiosity. But their release could

nonetheless generate considerable controversy, particularly in Hong Kong. The agreed arrangements for our withdrawal from Hong Kong and its return to China remain a highly sensitive matter in Hong

Kong and in Britain. Public opinion in Hong Kong is volatile at

the best of times: at present there is considerable underlying

nervousness and resentment of HMG. If the papers were now released there is a high probability that they would attract publicity,

exegesis and selective quotation. Statements would be taken out

of context and held against us by critics of HMG in Britain and Hong Kong. There is also a certain potential for causing irritation and