TNAG-1992-FCO40-2839-Capital-punishment-in-Hong-Kong-1989 — Page 11

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CONFIDENTIAL

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consider in March whether to grant the defendant leave to appeal.

If the application is refused, the Governor will convene his

Bermudian Committee of Mercy who may or may not recommend that the

sentence of death should be carried out. The Governor will then

have to make up his mind. People in Hong Kong might ask why the

position in Bermuda is different from that in Hong Kong. If

necessary we could explain that, unlike Hong Kong, Bermuda has a

fully elected legislature, as well as a Premier and a full

ministerial system.

HKD 380/1

ARBC

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HONG KONG CAPITAL PUNISHMENT]

1.

A R Paul

Mr Forman

Wial,

The Governor dicussed this case with me when I was in Hong Kong last week with Lord Glenarthur. The details are exceptionally horrific and it is not surprising that the Unofficial Members of EXCO (and one Official) wished to abstain from giving advice. The Governor emphasised, as he makes clear in his telegram, that EXCO were not really seeking to reopen the whole question of capital punishment in Hong Kong. But it will make his position easier if Ministers can confirm that their own position remains the same as it has been effectively since 1973.

2.

As Mr Paul points out, there was a somewhat similar case in 1984 (I am not certain that the Governor is aware of it). I do not believe that the fact that Hong Kong now has a partially elected legislature provides sufficient reason for a change of policy in Hong Kong. While public opinion in Hong Kong generally favours the carrying out of death sentences, it is accepted that this is unlikely to happen so long as Britain retains responsibility for the administration of the Territory, and capital punishment is not currently a subject of serious public debate or concern. As Mr Paul notes, there are also some who take the view, with 1997 in mind, that the effective suspension of capital punishment in Hong Kong might have some advantages for Hong Kong people.

3. If a death sentence were carried out in Bermuda, that might serve to revive the debate but I think most people in Hong Kong would accept, post-Joint Declaration, that the political and other circumstances in the two Territories are entirely different.

/4.

CONF IDENTIAL