Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

Ex-governor pushed Britain to oppose citizenship rules for advisers, judges, papers show

Ex-governor pushed Britain to oppose citizenship rules for advisers, judges, papers show

In a newly declassified telegram to Britain’s Foreign Office, then governor David Wilson argued his proposals were ‘important to restoring local confidence in the future of Hong Kong’ after the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The British government in 1989 dismissed calls from then Hong Kong governor David Wilson to push back against a proposed constitutional requirement that high-ranking judges and top government advisers be Chinese citizens after the city’s handover.

Wilson had also urged London at the time to press Beijing to make a statement declaring it would not exercise its right to station a peacetime People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison in Hong Kong, after acknowledging there was “no real prospect” of language to that effect being included in the Basic Law.

Wilson’s argued that his suggestions – revealed for the first time in a set of documents declassified nearly 30 years early following a freedom of information request by the Post – were “important to restoring local confidence in the future of Hong Kong” in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, as the city’s 1997 handover to China loomed.

The proposals – neither of which came to pass – came at a time when the British government was seeking to influence the final language of the Basic Law, which was drafted between 1985 and 1990 by a joint committee comprising Hong Kong and mainland Chinese members. The mini-constitution would ultimately be endorsed by China’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress, in April 1990.

In a telegram sent to Britain’s Foreign Office on July 13, 1989 with the subject line “Basic Law: Way Forward”, Wilson urged the government to push for the removal of the Chinese nationality requirement for Executive Council members and chief judges of the Court of Final Appeal and High Court, noting the rule was not stipulated in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.


But Alan Paul, head of the office’s Hong Kong Department at the time, disagreed, brushing aside Wilson’s concerns in an August 18 memo to then Minister of State Francis Maude.

Noting that the Hong Kong government had raised the potential difficulty of meeting the requirements as the pool of people capable of filling the posts would be too small, Paul wrote: “In the case of Exco, we do not accept that it would be so. In the case of judges, there should not be practical difficulties.”

If Hong Kong insisted on raising the point, he continued, “it should be made by Hong Kong people”, and not Britain.

“If HMG [the British government] made the point, the Chinese would be quite likely to perceive it as an attempt to preserve British influence,” he added. “Hong Kong [officials] have now accepted this view.”

The British government ultimately declined to raise Wilson’s suggestion with Beijing.


Articles 55 and 90 of the Basic Law state that members of Exco, the city’s chief justice and the chief judge of the High Court “shall be Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of [Hong Kong] with no right of abode in any foreign country”.

The city’s courts do allow for some foreign judges to serve in certain capacities, but the future of that system has been questioned by some observers after Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, declared in February that the city government – including its judicial branch – must be led by “true patriots”.

The remarks from Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs, which foreshadowed a major overhaul of the city’s electoral system aimed at ensuring leaders’ loyalty, have led some to wonder whether nationality requirements for judges in the city may be expanded in the future.

In his July 13, 1989 telegram, Wilson also urged the government to make a case to Beijing that the Basic Law should state that PLA troops would not be stationed in Hong Kong except in times of war or at the request of local authorities following the handover.

If that proved unworkable, he suggested that the central government instead “make a separately self-denying statement to the effect that they would not exercise their right to send troops except in these circumstances”.

Wilson acknowledged the long odds facing the constitutional provision in another telegram to the foreign office two days later, saying: “I see no real prospect of the Chinese writing it into the Basic Law that no PLA will be stationed in Hong Kong.”

He added: “What we should aim for is a self-denying statement that, although they have the sovereign right to station troops, they see no immediate need to do so.”

Paul also deemed keeping the PLA out of the city after 1997 to be an unattainable objective, but committed to raising it anyway.

Richard Evans (left), the British Ambassador to China, and Zhou Nan, head of the Chinese negotiating team, exchange documents after signing the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.


“Insistence on this point may lead to an unproductive row (which we can never win),” he wrote in the August communique to Maude. “Nevertheless we must try. The public expectation in Hong Kong and in this country is that we will do so.”

While Britain’s efforts to push for similar concessions were previously reported, Wilson’s calls for the so-called self-denying statement were not.

The British raised the issue with the Chinese side at a meeting of the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group in London in September 1989 where transitional arrangements for Hong Kong’s handover were discussed.

The Post reported at the time that Beijing rejected the suggestion, and the PLA now maintains a permanent garrison in the city. Article 14 of the Basic Law states the local government “may, when necessary, ask the Central People’s Government for help from the garrison in the maintenance of public order and in disaster relief”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
×