TOP SECRET DOPC PAFER
The
(a) in due time there will have to be negotiations
The first of these reassertions has been made
publicly in the United Nations and elsewhere.
last three were made to me by the Chinese Prime
Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs during
my visit to Peking in November. They confirm the
assessment made in DOP (71)83 and strengthen the
conclusions of that paper.
3. The arguments on the British interest in
retaining Hong Kong are still balanced. As an
economically developed dependency, Hong Kong's
interests can clash with those of our own industry
In the European Community and of our new partners It will cost us
Ed
But
something in political terms to maintain the
interests of Hong Kong within the Community.
Hong Kong is not a liability to our current relations
with China (though the Chinese demand for an
"official representative" in Hong Kong remains
unresolved). We still have a substantial stake in
Hong Kong's economy. Two million of the four
million Chinese in Hong Kong have British nationality,
but while Hong Kong remains a dependency there is no
immigration problem, since they have no right of
abode here.
4. The gist of the matter in 1972/73, therefore,
is that China does not want to take back Hong Kong
now or to initiate negotiations about its future,
that the population continue to want us to stay, and
that the material and moral balance of advantage to
us is to maintain the status quo.
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