CONFIDENTIAL
6.
Furthermore, we have had it officially and explicitly
from the Chinese, at many interviews during the past months,
that there can be no "normalisation" of Sino-British relations
so long as the question of Hong Kong is left on one side.
While careful not to dissent from the aim of improving
relations between Britain and China, they have repeatedly
said that they are waiting for concrete actions from us in
Hong Kong as an earnest of our good intentions. Nor must
we overlook the fact that the Chinese Government have taken
up a public stand on confrontation which they can hardly
abandon without great loss of face both at home and abroad.
They are smarting from the defeat they sustained after the failure of the communist campaign of violence in 1967. Morc-
over they may well still have some difficulty controlling their
Hong Kong supporters. In present circumstances, therefore,
unless they are provided with some device that will allow them
to claim, however implausibly, that their demands in Hong
Kong have been satisfied, the Chinese cannot be expected
to drop their confrontation policy. We must also remember
that while this situation persists there is continuing danger that some incident, whether fortuitous or deliberately provoked, may lead to a renewal of violence in Hong Kong, which would not only prevent an improvement in Sino-British
relations but would lead to a further deterioration.
Chinese
CONFIDENTIAL