CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Milton
Re
FED
VISIT OF THE CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER : 6 JUNE 10 JUNE
ADDITIONAL DEFENSIVE BRIEF
STATUS OF HONG KONG
It is just conceivable, although unlikely, that during
the talks between the Secretary of State and Chi P'eng-fei,
Chi may make some remarks prejudicial to our view of the
status of Hong Kong. In this case, but only in this case
the Secretary of State will wish to put the record straight.
In doing so it is strongly recommended that he confine
himself to making the following two points:
1) If the Chinese continue to assert their view of
the status of Hong Kong, they should be in no doubt
j
that we may be forced to assert our view of Hong Kong's
status in reply.
2) We shall continue to act in Hong Kong and over the
affairs of Hong Kong in accordance with our view of
Hong Kong's status and our responsibility for its
administration.
The
According to our record of the talk between the Secretary
of State and Chou En-lai on 1 November 1972 Chou En-lai said:
"The British were ruling Hong Kong and were responsible.
Chinese did not quarrol with that. They respected the British
position."
SCAFIE A... HAL