UNCLASSIFIED
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH
ре
Pe 04074
(370)
M J Crawford Esq CAIRO
Telephone 01-
HIKK0405.
RECLINED V NEG/ETN
1725
7 CM6/10
Your reference
Our reference
PBA 310/24
Date
4 October 1983
(364)
BACKGROUND MATERIAL ON HONG KONG
1.
Thank you for your letter of 24 September asking for background material on the history of Hong Kong and the current negotiations on its future with China, which you wish to pass on to Said Sonbol, joint managing-editor of Akhbar el-Youm.
2. Although you did not actually specify Said Sonbol's departure date, I imagine you wish to have whatever material is available fairly quickly. I, therefore, attach copies of our Background Brief "Pressure on Hong Kong Resources"; the COI's Fact Sheet on Hong Kong and the chapter of the history of Hong Kong copied from Hong Kong 1983 (produced by the Hong Kong Government Information Service).
3. Guidance telegram numbers 192 of 20 October 1982 and 083 of 8 July 1983 may have escaped your attention. The first contains a historical background. Copies will be sent by the next confidential bag in case they have been mislaid; you may draw on them freely except where indicated. We will also include a background note on the future of Hong Kong.
CC:
Mr Morris, HKD
Mr Walker, Research Department
J A Butler (Miss)
Information Department