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DESKBY 10100OZ
FROM PEKING 100915Z SEP 83
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELEGRAM NUMBER 879 OF 10TH SEP
INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG
MIPT: FUTURE OF HONG KONG: MR HEATH'S VISIT
1. FOLLOWING IS EXTRACT RELATING TO HONG KONG OF RECORD OF AK
MEETING WITH DENG XIAOPING ON 10 SEPTEMBER. BEGINS:
2. MR HEATH SAID THAT HE HOPED THAT BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH
WESTER EUROPE AND THE UK WOULD REMAIN GOOD. MR DENG REPLIED THAT
THERE WERE NO CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN BRITAIN AND CHINA EXCEPT
FOR HONG KONG, WHICH WAS NOT DIFFICULT TO RESOLVE. THE BRITISH
AIN OF EXCHANGING SOVEREIGNTY FOR ADMINISTRATION WAS NOT
POSSIBLE. HE WISHED TO SAY THIS FRANKLY. ON 22 SEPTEMBER THE
SECOND PHASE OF THE NEGOTIATHONS WOULD RESUME. HE HAD NOT ASKED
ABOUT THE DETAILS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS, BUT HE HOPED THAT THEY
I WOULD NOT GET STUCK ON THE ISSUE OF ADMINISTRATION. HE HOPED THAT
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CHINA WOULD NOT BE OBLIGED TO #SSUE A UNILATERAL DECLARATION ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG: CHINA HOPED ON THE CONTRARY TO SEE A
JOINT DECLARATION BY CHINA AND THE UK. THIS WOULD BE MORE
BENEFICIAL FOR THE UK. HE HAD TOLD MRS THATCHER WHEN HE SAW
HER IN 1982 THAT THE PROBLEM SHOULD BE SOLVED IN TWO YEARS TIME,
IE BY SEPTEMBER 1984. (AT THIS POINT AN MFA REPRESENTATIVE TRIED
TO CORRECT HIM THAT HE HAD SAID 1-2 YEARS RATHER THAN TWO YEARS:
DENG BRUSHED THIS ASIDE AND SAID THAT IT WAS THE SAME AS SAYING
TWO).
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3. MR HEATH SAID THAT A JOINT STATEMENT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL NOT
ONLY TO THE UK BUT TO CHINA AS WELL. IT WOULD HAVE A BIG INFLUENCE
ON INTERNATIONAL OPINION ON TAIWAN, AND PARTICULARLY IN THE
UNITED STATES. MR DENG AGREED THAT A JOINT STATEMENT WOULD BE IN
THE INTERESTS OF BOTH SIDES, PARTICULARLY WITH A VIEW TO THE LONG
TERM RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES. AFTER THE SECOND WORLD
WAR THE UK HAD GIVEN UP MANY COLONIES: HAVING HAD MORE COLONIES
THAN OTHER COUNTRIES SHE HAD GIVEN UP MORE, STARTING WITH INDIA.
WHEN CHINA RECOVERED HONG KONG SHE WOULD IMPLEMENT REALISTIC
AND PRACTICAL POLICIES, WHICH WOULD NOT BE TO THE DISADVANTAGE
OF THE UK, NOR DAMAGE THE UK. IF HONG KONG WERE TO GO ON ITS
PRESENT POSITION, THE UK WOULD STILL REMAIN A COLONIAL POWER.
HE ASKED WHETHER HONG KONG WAS THE LAST BRITISH COLONY. HE
RECALLED THAT NOT LONG AGO A COLONY IN THE CARIBBEAN HAD BECOME
INDEPENDENT. HE DID NOT KNOW IF WE HAD ANY OTHERS. MR HEATH REPLIED THAT THERE WERE A SMALL NUMBER OF COLONIES WHICH DID NOT
WISH TO BE INDEPENDENT, FOR INSTANCE GIBRALTAR. MR DENG OBSERVED
THAT BRITAIN'S QUARREL WITH SPAIN WAS NOT YET OVER. HE HOPED
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