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FM HONG KONG 160510Z NOV 93
„TO IMMEDIATE F C O
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TELEGRAM NUMBER 1745 OF 16 NOVEMBER
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HICKOSO/2
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
10 NOV 1983
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INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON, PEKING.
ROUTINE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON, NEW YORK GENEVA AND BRUSSELS.
FUTURE OF HONG KONG : PRESS COVERAGE.
AND THE 1. THE CONCLUSION OF THE SIXTH ROUND OF THE TALKS, PUBLICATION OF THE JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT WERE GIVEN PROMINENT AND EXTENSIVE COVERAGE IN ALL SECTIONS OF THE PRESS, AS WELL AS ON THE RADIO AND TELEVISION. HOWEVER, REPORTS OF A MEETING WHICH NEW TERRITORIES DISTRICT BOARD MEMBERS HAD WITH J# PENGFEK, HEAD OF THE HONG KONG AND MACAU OFFICE, DISPLACED THE TALKS AS THE FRONT PAGE LEAD IN A NUMBER OF PAPERS.
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2. THE TA KUNG PAO AND THE WEN WEC PO CARRIED IN FULL THE NONA VERSION OF THE JOINT STATEMENT WHICH USED THE PHRASE 'THE TWO SIDES HELD USEFUL AND CONSTRUCTIVE TALKS'. SOME OF THE MINOR LEFT-WING NEWSPAPERS PICKED UP THE LATER ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NONA DESPATCH WHICH USED THE AGREED WORDING **CONTINUED USEFUL AND CONSTRUCTIVE TALKS''. THE DISCREPANCY GAVE RISE TO SOME DISCUSSION IN THE INDEPENDENT PRESS, BUT IT WAS NOT GENERALLY REGARDED AS HAVING ANY SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS. THE CENTRE DAILY NEWS (MINOR LEFT WING) SAID THAT THE PHYTHM OF THE TALKS HAD BEEN SPEEDED UP BECAUSE THE SOVEREIGNTY ISSUE HAD BEEN SET ASIDE. THE PAPER QUOTE "OMPLOMATIC SOURCES AN PEKING'' AS SAYING THAT THE CHINESE SIDE HAD RAISED SUBSTANTINE MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION DURING THE SIXTH
ROUND.
3. THE TWO MAJOR COMMUNIST NEWSPAPERS. CONTINUED TO ABSTAIN FROM EDITORIAL COMMENT ON THE FUTURE. THE MINOR COMMUNIST PRESS AND THE INDEPENDENT PRESS ALL INTERPRETED THE JOINT STATEMENT AS A SIGN OF CONTINUING PROGRESS, AND CAUTHONED AGAINST UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS AND EXCESSIVE SPECULATION. THE INDEPENDENT PRESS SOUGHT COMMENT FROM THE USUAL RANGE OF PUNDITS IN THE ACADEMIC AND BUSINESS WORLD, ALL OF WHOM EXPRESSED CONT MUED OPTIMISH.
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