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MICK
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CONFIDENTIAL
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Müürsten
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PS/Lord Belstead
HONG KONG AND THE AN OPEN LETTER TO
, по шторми No more colll Pewolle/11
16
SOUTH ATLANTIC FUND : EXCO AND LEGCO
phsl
-12/4.
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1.
You asked for comments on an open letter from Alfred Chan on behalf of the 1997 Action Group to Sir S Y Chung and the members of EXCO and LEGCO, which was copied to Lord Belstead.
2. The letter, which has not yet been received in Hong Kong,
criticises the decision to contribute £2 million to the South
Atlantic Fund. It is contentious in tone, alleging that the decision was hasty, accusing Britain of discrimination against Hong Kong over nationality, textiles, student fees etc and claiming that the contribution would not help negotiations on
the 1997 problem with China in view of China's attitude on the
Falklands conflict.
3. The writer of the letter, Alfred Chan, is known to the Hong
Kong Government Office in London as an active member of the 1997
Action Group, despite an apparently very busy job in Edinburgh
with the YWCA Roundabout International Centre. The group's
purported aims are to arouse Hong Kong people's awareness of the
problems of 1997, to get the UK to recognise her responsibility
for the 2.6 million British passport holders in Hong Kong and to
form a 'political party' to lobby for self-determination. The
group claims to have 40 members, probably mainly students and young professionals in the United Kingdom. The HKGO met the group once and found them to be long-term UK residents, out of touch
with Hong Kong and with limited appeal to Hong Kong people.
CONFIDENTIAL
/4.