CONFIDENTIAL
OFFICE OF THE BRITISH SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE.
SINO-BRITISH JOINT LIAISON GROUP HONG KONG
3 October 1991
A
M
Jeremy Matthews Esq Attorney General
66 Queensway
HKC 307
37015
Queensway Government offices
hkc
32015.
R+R)
Два бележу
ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN HONG KONG AND CHINA IN CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL
LEGAL MATTERS
I was grateful to see a copy of your minute of 16 September on this subject, on my return from London.
1.
2. I understand the importance of getting the correct arrangements in this area, but I think that we need to approach it with some caution. It is only too likely that if this went wrong the Chinese would say that arrangements between Hong Kong and the PRC after 1997 in this area are a matter within their sovereignty, and nothing to do with us. I would therefore be a little nervous about the formation of a formal working party including persons from outside Government. I am afraid that experience shows that such arrangements might very well leak into the press at an early stage, possibly in a distorted way.
3.
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However I do see that there is a need for consultation. think that the more informal any arrangments for this can be kept the better. It might also help if someone whom the Chinese think well-disposed could be included, perhaps a businessman with good connections to China like Vincent Lo for example. It would also help to fend off any unhelpful Chinese reaction, in case there should be publicity at some stage, if I were to warn Guo Fengmin at an early stage that we are doing some preparatory consultation in this area.
4. I could tell him that we have recently begun to receive enquiries from the private sector about arrangements after 1997 in these areas. We recognise that this will be a matter between the PRC and the SAR, but we think that in the run-up to 1997 it is going to loom increasingly larger. We suspect that it would be useful to discuss the subject between us. In the meantime we
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