CONFIDENTIAL
38
Mr. Walker
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ALL K
MKKO40/2. BE BROS. RY MO. 51 1219/JUL 1983
Mr qft, HKD
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| CH1917
BBC 2 'NEWSNIGHT' PROGRAMME ON HONG KONG
H B WARREN-GASH
11 July 1983
Private Secretary
Mr Donald
Mr Clark, News Dept
1. Mr Luce has now spoken to Mr Robert Adley MP about this.
2.
See (141)
Mr Adley confirmed that he would be appearing on a television programme on Hong Kong this evening (he thought it was ''Nationwide''
''). He did not think that there would be any other MP on the programme because, as he understood it, the BBC had tried to find someone who took a different position from him on the sovereignty issue, only to discover that everyone they approached shared his point of view!
3. Against this inauspicious beginning, Mr Luce reminded Mr Adley of the special significance with which any public pronouncements on this subject would be seen, not only in Britain but, more importantly, in Peking and Hong Kong. It must be in all our interests to avoid doing anything which created a crisis of confidence in Hong Kong at this crucial stage. He suggested that, if the question of sovereignty were to come up, it would be most helpful if Mr Adley could refer to ''titular sovereignty'' in putting his point of view. The fact that the talks were taking place against the background of the good relations between China and the UK, and that all parties to these talks shared the common objective of maintaining prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, was also worth stressing.
4. Mr Adley took careful note of these points.
He then
!| went on to ask Mr Luce how, if an agreement were reached,
? |
acceptability to the people of Hong Kong would be judged. Mr Luce in reply referred to the special roles of EXCO, and of the Governor-in-Council. Mr Adley expressed considerable scepticism about how well placed EXCO were to pass judgement, given that some of them had never even been to China. Mr Luce reminded him that, even if all EXCO members were not regular visitors to China, other important groups from Hong Kong, such as the ''young professionals'' had been to Peking, and were well aware of Chinese attitudes.
5.
Finally, Mr Adley warned that he had been asked to write an article for the 'Guardian' later this week about the future of Hong Kong. In doing so, he said that his aim would be to make people (and particularly his fellow MPs) think about the way forward.
CONFIDENTIAL
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