TNAG-2857-FCO40-4110-Satellite-Licensing-and-Asia-Satellite-Telecommunications-Co-1993 — Page 70

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FROM: Miss S Brooks

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Mune 24/10

Legal Counsellor 270 3069

K199

DATE: 23 October 1991

No

NOT YO'T

Mr Furness HKD

ASIASAT DRAFT TELEGRAM

1. I have a number of comments on your draft telegram.

a) Paragraph 1. I suggest deleting the third sentence and replacing it as follows:

"Secondly, BNSC is a management unit within government which co-ordinates the civil space activities of various government departments and research councils. It is made up of civil servants and scientists."

b) Paragraph 1.

Please change "[legal] standing to undertake"

to read "capacity to enter into".

I have drawn on my conversation with Mr Inglis, BNSC in suggesting these changes.

2. Paragraph 2. Last sentence. While the UK has international responsibility for space activities carried out from Hong Kong, Hong Kong has clearly been developing a practice of carrying out certain actitivies by itself, in particular licensing AsiaSat 1. Of course, one cannot speak of Hong Kong's autonomy in this field. But it is clearly Hong Kong Government policy (which in my view we should support) to take action in this field as far as is politically possible and legally acceptable in order to enable the Hong Kong Government to make out a case to the Chinese for the Hong Kong SAR Government being able to take similar action after 1997. When the Sub-group on International Rights and Obligations, a sub-group of the Joint Liaison Group, discusses treaties applying to Hong Kong with the Chinese with a view to ensuring their application to the HKSAR after 1997, Hong Kong Government's dealings and practices under those treaties is sought to be preserved for the benefit of the HKSAR Government after 1997. This seems to me to be a similar case. The ideal opportunity to discuss licensing arrangements with the Chinese would be when the Outer Space Agreement 1966 is discussed in the IRO Sub-group with the Chinese side.

3. I suggest, subject to checking with Future Section, HKD that the Outer Space Agreement 1966 has not already been discussed with the Chinese, that the last sentence of paragraph 2 be reworded to read as follows: