From: Lord MacLehose of Beoch
HOUSE
OF
LORDS
23rd February, 1983.
Beoch,
Maybole,
Ayrshire, KA19 8EN
Dex ti adly,
you
Under cover of your letter of 12th February, kindly sent me copies of your exchange with John Belstead about the compatability or otherwise of arrangements about the future of Hong Kong with maintenance of good relations with China - in which you are of course so interested.
contradiction.
I do not think you should see these issues as in Arrangements for the future of Hong Kong can only be tolerably satisfactory to all three parties the C.P.G., H.M.G. and the people of Hong Kong. No arrangements that were unacceptable to China could be made to stand up in practice, and I am sure the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are well aware of this obvious fact (which incidentally has applied to Hong Kong in the past and On the other present just the same as it will do in the future). hand while I accept that in theory China could impose arrangements for Hong Kong that could produce a collapse there, and in consequencE a serious deterioration in Sino/British relations, I cannot see why on earth they should do anything so silly, bearing in mind that a willing Hong Kong would be so valuable to them and a deserted one not only financially valueless, but politically embarrassing, and would be a major disincentive to re-unification with Taiwan.
I have always refused to accept that on a correct analysis there could be any contradiction between the interests of China, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Only arrangements that
are acceptable to all three will stand up.
Naturally one cannot exclude the possibility of some total change from the present pragmatic line in China, in which case the above analysis would fall down. However, the tendency towards pragmatism and normalisation looks tolerably well establisher
Robert Adley Esq., M.P.
House of Commons,
S.W.1.
у-
sincurly
Machin
1
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