TNAG-2786-FCO40-4005-Hong-Kong-UK-Parliamentary-and-other-interest-in-constitutio-1993 — Page 90

Mr Stephen Dorrell MP

House of Commons SW1A OAA

Thank you for your letter of 13 May 1993 enclosing a letter from your constituent Mr Willis of 45 Arthur Street, Loughborough.

The

You may reassure Mr Willis that there has never been any cover-up about the terms of the British lease on Hong Kong. treaties of 1842 and 1860 ceded Hong Kong Island and Kowloon to Great Britain, and the treaty of 1898 leased the New Territories to Great Britain for 99 years. These were all public documents.

It has long been recognised that Hong Kong Island and Kowloon (together comprising only 8% of the territory of Hong Kong) could not survive without the New Territories, where amongst other things Hong Kong's airport and port facilities are situated. It is probably because this has been so generally accepted that there has been little public debate on the matter.

I enclose a copy of the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 for Mr Willis's information. This was ratified by Parliament in 1984. The introduction gives a full explanation of the historical background and addresses Mr Willis's point in paragraph 29.

ALASTAIR GOODLAD

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