TNAG-2879-FCO40-4151-Agreements-between-the-Hong-Kong-Special-Administrative-Regi-1993 — Page 44

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CONFIDENTIAL

37019

20/9

RECE

REGISTRY

30 November 1993

CC DEC 1993

TRY

37019.

Mr W Palmer

Crown Solicitor's Office for Northern Ireland

Dear Palmer,

Foreign & Commonwealth

Office

75

London SWIA 2AH

Telephone: 071-270-2655

AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE UK AND HONG KONG AFTER 1997

1.

Hong Kong will, on 1 July 1997, cease to be a dependent territory of the UK and will become a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The agreement relating to the transfer of sovereignty, the Joint Declaration, allows for the continuation of all the international rights and obligations currently enjoyed by Hong Kong, as agreed between the UK and PRC Governments. enclose a copy.

2.

I

Hong Kong's international relations are the responsibility of the UK, and so Hong Kong has not entered into treaties of its own, but has relied on the application to it of the UK's treaties or of Commonwealth arrangements. Their application to Hong Kong will be unable to survive the transfer of sovereignty. We have therefore proposed to the Chinese authorities that Hong Kong should negotiate its own extradition treaties, based on an agreed model, under entrustment from the UK. I enclose a copy of the model extradition treaty. After each treaty is initialled we will then seek agreement from the Chinese side that the treaty can continue in force after 1997. The treaty would then be signed by the Hong Kong Government.

3.

Unfortunately, such treaties cannot be put into place before 1997 in the case of the UK, since one part of the territory of the UK cannot enter into legally binding agreements with another part of that territory. Additionally, the PRC would be very suspicious of any treaty negotiated between the present Hong Kong Government and the UK. They would assume that it had been negotiated under duress. Hong Kong have therefore suggested that we should proceed to negotiate treaties on the basis of the relevant model texts already agreed with the Chinese, and then seek Chinese agreement that the Chief Executive of the SAR Government

CONFIDENTIAL