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TOP SECRET Secret
VISIT OF GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG
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3. Aty
1. In discussion with the US tomorrow, the Governor may wish to discuss the Secretary of State's visit to Hong Kong and Peking next May.
2.
I attach a brief on this subject which we prepared for Lord Goronwy-Roberts's meeting earlier today. This puts forward some tentative thoughts on which Lord Goronwy-Roberts sought the Governor's views. The Governor will be examining our outline paper on this during the course of the week. In conversation with Lord Goronwy-Roberts this morning he said that the problem of handling the Secretary of State's visit to Hong Kong was difficult; and certainly the object must be to avoid giving the Secretary of State cause for regarding the Colony in a less favourable light than he does at present. The Governor saw no reason to dissent in principle from the general line we were considering.
3. He added that he would like to consider the brief for Peking about Hong Kong further, in consultation with Mr Youde.
He saw
advantage in the Secretary of State leaving it to the Chinese to raise Hong Kong during the visit. Assuming the Chinese raise the subject at all, the way in which it is raised and the personage on their side who does so, may tell us a good deal about current Chinese attitudes to the Colony. I see some merit in this: the Secretary of State may need some persuading since he is on record as wanting to discuss Hong Kong with the Chinese with a view to encouraging them to order Communist trade unions etc. in the Colony
to cooperate in the processes of government there.
4.
The Governor will almost certainly urge that we should delay briefing the Secretary of State on Hong Kong issues until perhaps a month before he leaves on his Far East tour. Lord Goronwy-Roberts has hitherto thought that we should start focusing the Secretary of State's attention on Hong Kong rather earlier than this. I am not
/in a position
SECRET