TNAG-2345-FCO40-3412-Future-of-Chinese-Ministry-of-Foreign-Affairs-office-in-Hong-1991 — Page 13

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HKCQOG!!

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MUCC406/4

CONFIDENTIAL

OFFICE OF THE BRITISH SENIOR REPRESENTATIVE,

SINO-BRITISH JOINT LIAISON GROUP HONG KONG

12 August 1991

N J Cox Esq

Hong Kong Department (by/fax)

FCO

A Riorda

Pop copy

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23/

Dear Nigel

CHINESE MFA OFFICE IN HONG KONG

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3

1.

2.

Thank you for your letter of 1 August.

The Chinese are not making a formal link between their MFA office in Hong Kong and our request for Colvin House. Indeed when the subjects were first mentioned to Guo he said immediately that there could be no formal link, since they were of a different nature. There is therefore no point in castigating Guo for the linkage. If pressed the Chinese would say that their own hesitation in agreeing to Colvin House was because it is a difficult and complicated proposal requiring careful consideration which they have not yet completed.

3. Of course we may know that this is not the case, and that it is simply a fact that the MFA are not going to agree to Colvin House until they are sure that we have given them what they want. There is not much in practice that we can do about this, and no doubt if the positions were reversed we would do the same.

4.

I think that your para 2 requires further thought. The Chinese have made Hong Kong a "special administrative region", and they have made clear that it will come directly under the Central Authorities. I do not think that there is anything in the JD which would preclude them from deciding that the Central Government has the right to establish offices where necessary in Hong Kong, and to require land for that purpose without charge to the central budget. You may like to consult the legal advisers about this. In general I think that we have to assume that the Central Government can do whatever it likes so long as it is not actually in contravention of the Joint Declaration. Unfortunately, it is not the case that they are precluded from doing something simply because the Joint Declaration does not explicitly provide for it.