Richard Luce. is., LUNCH.
20, 1,63
I
compensation scheme for pensionable cvcrseas civil servants
including
melbers of 4.1.0.0.0., who are affected by dhe Jino-British greement. While negotiations on suc a soheme are primarily a matter for the staff associations representing pensionaole officers serving in Hong kong, we do feel that, despite there weing 12 years to run before the final constitutional change is effected, early and clear Lecisions need to be promulgated so as minimise the uncertainty which overshadows the career prospects of serving officers.
We also welcome the clarification in the inal paragraph of your letter regarding "privile jen treatment" as this naturally affects tile career prospects of a certain nummer of 2.1.0.3.3. officers. Je Zetain some acubt Whether future cuministrators in rion, Long will interpret this portion of the Areement in the same way.
As an Association, our pri...e o acera must se the effect willon constitutional change will have upon the award, payment und value of pensions of overseas officers. e accent. as you point out, at Section 17 of Amex I of the gree.lent places responsibility on the Hong Long 5 AA Government to pay the pensions of persons retiring after 1917 as well as those who have revired before ist July 1997, irrespective of their nationality or place of resi conc.... At the blame time, we st 11 fuel vers strongly that, bearing in in. inter alia, the localisation of a the Most senior posts in the C A A Covзment and the method of appointment of the Chief ective, there should be express public ac..nowledgement before 1997 that overseas pensioners will be entitled to continue to receive their pensions outside Hong kong and/or in the currency of ally other country In our view, the simulest and most straightforward solution, which could also represented as a friendly Lesture towards the post 1997 administration, would be for the British Government to take over the payment of these pensions at all agreed date being duly reimbursed by the Hong don Government and later the SAR Government). This would enable any administrative problems to be handled at an official level, including the Chinese Goverment, if necessary, and avoid the obvious difficulties likely to be experienced by the individual pensioner in corresponding at a distance with the new administration. Unlike the other dependent territories, Hong Kong's future has been clearly determined 12 years in advance and it seems to us entirely realistic to take advantage of this substantial time-lag in order to avoid the problems thrown up for pensioners in the post-independence period of other former colonies, and to facilitate the collection of the pensions documentation necessary for a take-over whenever it occurs.
We are also apprehensive about the real value of overseas pensions not merely after 1997 but also in the run-up to that date. In your letter you pointed out that the Hong Kong dollar was currently very strong in relation to sterling and the British Government's "every confidence that this will remain so". This strength has been primarily due to the fact that the Hong Kong dollar has been tied to the United States Dollar, but already for the same reason the sterling rate has declined sharply from HK$8.46 in March 1985 to HK $10.70 in July (using the Crown Agents' monthly exchange rate) for reasons outslae Hong Kong's control.
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