TNAG-2323-FCO40-3367-Hong-Kong-Bill-of-Rights-Vietnamese-boat-people-1991 — Page 110

CCPR/C/SR.856 page 9

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want political change.

Since the events of 1982, independence was obviously There could be absolutely no doubt

even less attractive to that population. about its wishes.

39. Elections had been held in Montserrat in 1987; no candidate had advocated independence. It was known that there was some support for the idea of a federation with neighbouring islands which might further the independence option. In any event, the population would choose as it saw fit on that issue as well.

40. Pitcairn had 57 inhabitants and it could hardly be regarded as one of the territories that would become independent.

41. St. Helena was a very remote island whose economy was highly dependent on the United Kingdom, with which it wished to maintain its constitutional relationship. If the territory wanted independence, the United kingdom would certainly grant it, but the population was aware that that was not a viable option.

42.

The Prime Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands had recently visited the Bahamas, where he had been asked whether his Government was considering independence; he had replied that it was not, but had noted that the option was not ruled out for the future.

43. The various situations which had just been listed clearly showed that self-determination did not necessarily mean independence. In any event, there could be no doubt about the United Kingdom Government's attitude towards self-determination.

44.

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Mr. Dimitrijevic had asked for clarification on the background to the situation in Hong Kong. In reply, he said that several treaties concerning

under that territory had been concluded with China in the nineteenth century: the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, the territory had been ceded to the United Kingdom in perpetuity; under a treaty signed in Peking in 1860, the southern Kowloon peninsula had also been ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom; subsequent treaty signed in 1898 had transferred all of the current territory of Hong Kong to the United Kingdom for a period of 99 years. The United Kingdom had sought to enter into negotiations with China before that period expired because as from the late 1970s, concerns had been expressed in Hong Kong and elsewhere about the leases in force in the territory that were to expire three days before the end of the United Kingdom's period of cession. It was also known that China had argued that the 1898 treaty was unequal and should be renegotiated at the appropriate time. In March 1972, the Chinese Government had sent a letter to the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization claiming that the settlement of the question of Hong Kong was a matter of China's sovereign rights and that that question was therefore not covered by resolution 1514 (XV). During negotiations with China in 1983 and 1984, the United Kingdom had indicated that it would support any solution that was considered acceptable by the Parliament and the population of Hong Kong. A draft agreement had been drawn

prior to ratification, the United Kingdom Government had wished to find out what the population's views were. The text of the draft had been circulated and an assessment office had been set up to evaluate public opinion

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