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Hong Kong
CONFIDENTIAL
13.
DSR 11C
23. The Prime Minister then invited the Secretary of
State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to make a
further point about Hong Kong. Lord Carrington said
that
that Premier Hua would remember, or (if he did not),
Minister of Foreign Affairs Huang Hua would remember,
when the Governor of Hong Kong had visited China, he had
raised the question of the New Territories leases.
problem was that, as 1997 approached, uncertainty about
The
new leases grew.
The Governor had later made some
proposals, which the Chinese Government had found
unacceptable.
The British Government would not pursue
these, since any proposals had to be acceptable to both
sides. But he would be grateful if Premier Hua could
give thought, or cause thought to be given, to the
problem of maintaining confidence in Hong Kong's future.
It was not in the interests of China, or of Hong Kong, tha
uncertainties about this should put the future of Hong
Kong into jeopardy, and affect investment confidence there
The Prime Minister said that the British Government
did not expect an answer on the spot, but were asking
the Chinese Government to give thought to the question.
24.
Premier Hua replied that the Chinese Government had given serious thought to this question, and had given
their reply to the British Government. They had to
be very careful about what was said about Chinese
territory.
On the other hand, the Chinese Government
had very good relations with the British Government,
At his and with the British authorities in Hong Kong.
press conference before his departure from China for