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SECRET
with by general assurances; and that if the Chinese do not like
our proposed solution another will have to be found sooner
rather than later.
OFFICIAL CHINESE REPRESENTATION IN HONG KONG
12. There is one longstanding Chinese request which may be
raised by Hua, or more probably by the Chinese Foreign
Minister: the question of the appointment of an official
Chinese representative in Hong Kong. This was first raised
during the 1950s and was pursued with some persistence in the
early 1970s. It was then soft-pedalled for some years until
the Foreign Minister raised it with the Governor in March,
warning that it would be taken up with Dr Owen during the
visit which he then planned to make in May. The Chinese have
argued that the appointment of an official representative is
long overdue; and that the function of the representative
would be to improve cooperation rather than cause trouble for
the Hong Kong administration. The British response has
consistently been that the time is not ripe for such a
development. This line has been taken largely for fear that
a Chinese representative would become an alternative focus of
authority in the territory, and that his appointment would be
misinterpreted by local opinion as preparatory to disengagement.
13. [Not for use] These arguments have lost some of their
force in the last few years. But the appointment of an
official Chinese representative would be a major concession
and we should not agree to it except in return for a Chinese
concession of real substance (eg as part of a package in which
we received bankable assurance on the continuance of British
administration in Hong Kong after 1997). It should certainly
not be conceded immediat after the Chinese rejection of our
/proposals
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