Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
19 April 1979
15.rdow
I had hoped to talk to you personally about your letter of 19 January on the future of Hong Kong, but the
election has intervened. As my Private Secretary has explained to you, your letter reached us just at the time
when we were thinking about asking Sir Murray MacLehose to stay on as Governor until next year, and preparing for his visit to Peking. As you know, Sir Murray has now
agreed to extend his tour as Governor until April 1980.
The issues you raise in your letter are delicate ones
and, as you say, they are best tackled by quiet diplomacy. I have fed some of your ideas through to the experts in the Department. As you will have seen from press reports, the Governor's visit to Peking went very well. I enclose the text of the opening statement he made at the press conference he gave on his return to Hong Kong. We have
made good progress in establishing a climate of relations
with the Chinese which should facilitate the solution of
the problems you mention.
Woodrow L Wyatt Esq
eve
شا
(DAVID OWEN)