CONFIDENTIAL
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MKK 014/1
NKOVE KI NASLY NO. 51
2 3 MAY 1983
DESK ORANG
INDEX
ISTRY on Taken
Emile 76
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
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PA
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CM116
20 May 1983
Sir E Youde GCMG MBE
Governor and Commander in Chief HONG KONG
Dear Teddy
HONG KONG ANNUAL REVIEW 1982-83
1.
Thank you very much for your Despatch of 9 May. I agree that in view of the sensitive nature of some of the content its circulation should be limited and I have arranged accordingly.
2.
You forecast a busy time in the coming year, but by any standards the year past has been far from dull! We appreciate very much the way in which you have worked to keep confidence alive. As you know, Ministers have also taken this problem very seriously and I think that the score sheet so far is encouraging. But we are fully alive to the fact that the demonstration of HMG's continuing support for Hong Kong will be an essential factor in maintaining confidence.
3.
I am sure that the readers of the despatch will find it particularly valuable in highlighting the coincidence in 1982/3 of worries about the future with the effects of the economic down-turn. But amid all the difficulties it was good to be reminded of successes such as the District Board Elections, the Aberdeen Tunnel and new housing provision. Hong Kong can justifiably be proud of these and other achievements. I found that this section underlined for me the gradual development of an articulate Hong Kong identity, a trend which we have to take seriously into account during the negotiations with Peking, balancing it carefully against the geopolitical realities of the situation.
Ima
Arch
R D Clift
Hong Kong and General Department
cc: Sir P Cradock KCMG
PEKING
CONFIDENTIAL