Richard Luce Esq. MP
SIR PHILIP GOODHART, M.P.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SWIA OAA
This ha
Minister of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs,
Foreign Office,
Downing Street, SWl.
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4111
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CC: Pifter, Luce
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November 2nd 1983
MKK040/13
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
? 3 NOV 1983
DASK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
↑ CH2311]
ABD Avdul 1
Having just returned from Hong Kong, I attended Monday's Adjournment Debate with eager anticipation, but alas, jetlag triumphed. As Robert Adley got to the bit about his not having any connection with the Holiday Inns in Hong Kong, my eyes closed and they did not really re-open until you were in the middle of your admirable peroration. I have, since then, read your speech, with which I wholeheartedly agree.
I am sure that our negotiating position is sensible, and that the cards are being played as well as they possibly can be by our skilled negotiators, backed up by the formidable talents of the whole Foreign Office. While the negotiations themselves must take place in private and I see no point in our saying anything in public officially everyone can see which cards are in which hand. I share the general view that the People's Republic holds the Ace, King and Queen of Trumps, and also owns the table, the pack of cards, and at least two of the chairs on which the players are sitting. In the circumstances, I think that it will be a miracle if we emerge from the talks with an agreement that any sensible Hong Kong resident would find acceptable.
See (48)
I believe, therefore, that we must give serious thought, as I am sure we are doing, as to the nature of our obligation to the people of Hong Kong who will not live under Communist rule. I therefore enclose a copy of a letter that I have sent to The Hon. Oswald Cheung, who, as you know, is a member of Exco. If there is no satisfactory agreement, then the very substantial sums that are going into the Hong Kong infrastructure should be run down, and progressively diverted into a resettlement fund. We have fourteen years in which to avoid scenes reminiscent of the last helicopters leaving the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon, but we had better start thinking now.
At the beginning, the resettlement fund which I propose should be nominally unofficial, though the Government should direct its activities from behind the scenes. At the same time, we should begin quiet discussions with such potential host countries as Australia, Brazil and the Philippines. There should be a place in the world for those Chinese in Hong Kong who may wish to leave, provided that they come with a dowry and are not initially dependent on the charitable inclinations of other peoples.
I am sure that you are giving some thought to all this already.
Goran Erin
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