CONFIDENTIAL
- BILV EL
July 1997 as Hong Kong's mini-constitution, already adds to the nationality restrictions in the Joint Declaration: expatriate officers are barred from the posts of Secretary or Deputy-Secretary of Department, Director of Bureau, Commissioner against Corruption, Director of Audit, Commissioner of Police, Director of Immigration and Commissioner of Customs and Excise.
6. The exclusion
("at least for the present") of Hong Kong and certain other territories in the 1960 White Paper concerned only the new financial arrangements set out in the White Paper. The principles, eg those which "should be applied in any future compensation scheme", were clearly of universal relevance, as were the concepts of HMG's special obligation and particular responsibility towards HMOCS officers and of membership of HMOCS conferring rights and benefits.
7. I agree that in 1988 Ministers looked at compensation by itself, ie not as part of a package. The point we wanted to make was that our present detailed proposals, refined in the course of official discussions and consultations with the Hong Kong Government since 1988, were designed as part of a package. The package approach dates back to our then Secretary of State's minute of 7 March 1985 to the Prime Minister, which discussed if and how the main body of doctrine on HMOCS should be applied to HMOCS officers in Hong Kong. (Ministers then hoped to get Hong Kong to pay both the compensation and for the sterling safeguards.) In 1988 there was no need to consider sterling safeguards, as Ministers had already agreed to review in 1990 one option for dealing with this, a version of capitalisation.
8. We have kept in the figure of 16:1 as the FCO/ODA recommended level of sterling safeguard. One or two of your other proposed amendments seem to have the objective of implying that only the Treasury has been interested in keeping low the costs of the arrangements for Hong Kong HMOCS officers. The fact is that we put forward last August a detailed and considered package of proposals aimed at meeting HMG's obligations and promoting HMG's objectives at the minimum cost to the tax-payer. We remain ready to give quick and positive consideration to any alternative ideas which might meet the aim more economically. But time is moving on. Last August we proposed that compensation could be limited by basing it on 1991 salary levels and exchange-rates: I think we shall now have to use the 1992 figures.
Yours sincerely,
Nigel Cors
N J Cox
Hong Kong Department
cc: D Fish Esq
ODA
NC1ABT
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