T
*
SEGRET
香 港 總 督官邸 香港
TS 7/1162/46 VI
Der Ritin
THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
FLAGSTAFF HOUSE
HONG KONG
8 December 1978
HKK 040/1
ovel!
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51
2 8 DEC 1978
DESK OF CER
INDEX
PA
REC RY
Action Ten
129
BRITISH POLICY IN THE 1980s
1.
124A
Thank you for your letter of 17 November enclosing an outline draft of a paper on policy towards Hong Kong in the 1980s. Percy Cradock has been staying with us and it was a great help to me to swap views with him. I did not show him the outline, and I note that both of us will have a chance to comment on the draft. I had not originally intended to write at all before this was received, but in the light of my discussions with Percy, I thought I should.
2.
I am sure we must approach the problem of Hong Kong's future with China step by step. The first step is the problem of the leases. We cannot avoid tackling it in the 1980s' though I would not now exclude the end of 1979.
3.
For my part I find it pointless to attempt to see much beyond the tackling of this problem, because in the process of talking to the Chinese about it we are likely to discover so much more than we know now about what the future holds for Hong Kong. This could be learnt as much by what they do not say as by what they say. It is bound to be a most illuminating exchange. Moreover if it goes well it should give Hong Kong a new lease of life in which new possibilities might be worth considering or alternatively might be completely excluded because of declared Chinese views.
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4.
I am therefore convinced that until we have got this problem out of the way and have absorbed the lessons learnt in the process, much of what we do in, and say about, Hong Kong should be subordinated to securing a successful outcome. Thereafter we can think a ga in.
I suggest that something of this approach should be reflected in your paper.
RJT McLaren Esq
Hong Kong and General Department FCO
/ 5.