11
#
4 ODI 18-77
Mr Hoare
Rift
fi
Reg:
Asar
pps below.
Reference
82
CONFIDENTIAL
ник 046 15 04015
17 MAR 1983
.....
NOTE FOR THE FILE ·: BRIEFING FOREIGN EMBASSIES ON HONG KONG'S FUTURE
1.
I should record that on 14 March Miss Sutter of the US Embassy called for one of her periodic updates on the future. I had very little to add to what I told her on 2 February. We concentrated mainly, but in general terms, on the visit by the Governor and the Ambassador, the Chinese propaganda campaign, our desire to see more progress in the talks and our long term aim of trying to preserve a decent way of life for the people of Hong Kong. We also discussed the current mood and level of confidence in Hong Kong, for which I drew on a number of points in the update the Governor sent us prior to his visit. Miss Sutter pressed me hard on what we would do if the talks ran into the ground but I was unable to do more than think aloud about the possible use of messages or emissaries or other channels. I did not mention Mrs Thatcher's message to Premier Zhao.
2.
Miss Sutter seems better informed on the situation now than when I saw her last year. She mentioned that she is seeing various
[reports, although neither of us mentioned the possibility of a Chinese announcement in June.
3.
We discussed briefly the visits to China and Hong Kong by one or two US delegations recently but it was clear that I knew more about them than she did. She also revealed that her Embassy had not been sent the details of the briefings given to Mr Shultz earlier this year and in November 1982. When I asked Miss Sutter whether she had any ideas or suggestions she confessed, not unreasonably, that without knowing more about the precise state of the talks and our strategy she was hardly in a position to suggest anything!
CONFIDENTIAL
/4.
THIS IS A COPY
THE ORIGINAL HAS BEEN RETAINED IN THE DEPARTMENT UNDER
SECTION 3 (4) OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 1958
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