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FM HONG KONG 060650Z DEC 33
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELEGRAM NUMBER 1885 OF 6 DECEMBER 1983
INFO IMMEDIATE PEING AND ROUTINE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT
LONDON, HONG KONG GOVERNMENT REPS WASHINGTON, NEW YORK
AND GENEVA
FUTURE OF HONG KONG: PRESS COVERAGE.
LIKKU402
OFFERGEVED IN NEDSTRY
BRUSSELS,
TODAY'S PRESS GAVE VERY LITTLE COVERAGE TO FUTURE-RELATED STORIES.
2. THE WEN WEI PO (COMMUNIST) EDITORIAL DISCUSSED THE INTER- RELATIONSHIP OF CHINA'S ECONOMIC MAKGERNISATION AND HONG KONG'S PROSPERITY. IT SAID THAT CHINA NEEDED HONG KONG AS A PLACE THROUGH WHICH TO PROMOTE ITS SALES TO THE WORLD MARKET AND TO IMPORT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. THROUGH ITS TRADE WITH HONG KONG, CHINA COULD MAINTAIN ITS BALANCE OF PAYMENTS IN FOREIGN EXCHANGE. HOWEVER, HONG KONG'S RE-EXPORT TRADE RELIED ON CHINESE MARKETS AND HONG KONG'S INVESTMENTS IN GUANGDONG EXCEEDED THE COMBINED TOTAL VALUE OF ITS INVESTMENTS IN MALAYSIA, INDONESIA, THAILAND AND SRI LANKA. FURTHERMORE, HONG KONG WAS OF GREAT AND WELL- KNOWN BENEFIT TO BRITAIN. BRITISH INTERESTS IN THE TERRITORY'S
BANKING INDUSTRY ACCOUNTED FOR 15 TO 20 PER CENT AND IN
INSURANCE 30 PER CENT. THIS CONSIDERABLE ECONOMIC PENETRATION
YIELDED QUOTE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS UNQUOTE FOR BRITAIN. BRITAIN
WAS HONG KONG'S FIFTH LARGEST TRADING PARTNER, BRITISH BOILER,
RAILWAY AND SHIPPING MANUFACTURERS MONOPOLISED THE LOCAL MARKET.
BRITAIN IMPROVED ITS BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BY SECURING 316 MASS
TRANSIT RAILWAY CONTRACTS AND SUPPLYING ELECTRICITY GENERATORS.
SUCH ECONOMIC BENEFITS EXPLAINED WHY BRITAIN STAYED ON IN THE
TERRITORY.
A
1983
3. WHILST NEARLY ALL PAPERS NOTED THAT THE SEVENTH POUND OF TALKS
WOULD BEGIN IN PEKING TOMORROW, THERE WAS LITTLE SPECULATION ON THEIR CONTENT. THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE HONG KONG STANDARD SUGGESTED
THAT THE BRITISH WANTED TO HOLD KEY POSITIONS IN THE ADMINISTRATION
OF LAW AND ORDER IN THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG AND WANTED
THE TALKS TO END BEFORE THE SEPTEMBER 1984 DEADLINE SET BY CHINA.
THE HONG KONG DAILY NEWS (INDEPENDENT) SPECULATED THAT BOTH SIDES
WOULD COMPLETE DISCUSSION OF THE QUOTE BASIC ISSUES UNQUOTE AT
THIS ROUND. AN EDITORIAL IN YESTERDAY'S WAH KIU EVENING NEWS (INDEPENDENT) REFERRED TO RENG ZHEN'S RECENT REMARKS (MY TELNO 1975) 328 BUT ARGUED THAT FOR ALL THE WORDS SPOKEN ON THE SUBJECT, CHINA'S CONSTITUTION OFFERED NO CONVINCING RESOLUTION OF THE CONTRADICTION IMPLICIT IN THE QUOTE ONE STATE UNQUOTE, TWO SYSTEMS QUOTE FORMULA
UNQUOTE.
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