CONFIDENTIAL
13
clansmen. They held out in Kat Hing Wai, Kam Tin, for three days before British soldiers broke open the gate and subdued them. The then Chief Secretary, complained to the Guangdong- Guangsi Viceroy about the incident. The British ambassador in Beijing then demanded the transfer of Qing officials from this area and punishment of the rioters. Second, there was an instruction from Britain that the takeover should be delayed till the American-Spanish war in the Philippines was over because an American fleet was using Mirs Bay as its base in helping the Filipinos against the Spaniards. Third, problems relating to the collection of China's customs duties and smuggling activities in the territory had to be sorted out first.
The magazine interviewed the chairman of the HK Students' Association in London, Mr. Lam Muo-lou, who said his executive committee took the following lines on the HK issue: (1) historically, HK was part of Chinese territory; (2) the unequal treaties were invalid and unacceptable; and (3) the British Government should end its administration here and hand HK back to China. He believed that self-administration was most likely to happen here whether it was acceptable or not. Mrs. Thatcher's insistence on the validity of the treaties was totally unacceptable. Wide Angle also carried an article on how Canadian students viewed the HK issue. The Wen Wei Po quoted selected excerpts, reflecting its theme of students' patriotic motives.
14.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS:
On 11 February the Guardian carried the Reuters report referring to remarks on HK made by the Chinese Foreign Minister at his Press conference.
A letter to the Financial Times of 14 February from Mr. Jowett, commenting on the paper's leader of 2 February, pointed out the inconsistency of China's position on recognition of the unequal treaties. It suggested that China might decide 1997 was not the year in which to resolve the Hong Kong question as otherwise an awkward precedent
would be set for the Sino-Soviet and Sino-Indian borders.
END
CONFIDENTIAL