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Contactos with MPS
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RECORD OF CALL BY MR ROBERT ADLEY MP, CHAIRMAN OF THE
BRITISH-CHINESE PARLIAMENTARY GROUP, ON MR RICHARD LUCE MP, MINISTER
OF STATE, AT 5.30 PM ON MONDAY 25 JULY 1983
Present
Mr Luce
Mr Adley
Mr Warren-Gash, Private Secretary
Mrs Priest, HKD
1. Mr Luce said that in their discussions with the Chinese
Government on the future of Hong Kong, the British Government were
well aware of the realities of the situation. We understood the
approach that Mr Adley had advocated in his recent press articles and interviews. But we had our obligations to the people of Hong Kong, and it was important to carry them with us. It was also important not to give misleading or damaging signals to the Chinese Government. The Chinese had no detailed conception at the moment of the factors which made for stability and prosperity in Hong Kong. Mr Adley might be well-placed to help in this respect.
2. Mr Adley said it was important for the British Government to realise that they held no trump cards to help them resolve the Hong Kong problem. Given the weakness of our hand, it would have been best to have accepted at the outset the Chinese position on sovereignty, and to have pushed on to them the onus of deciding how best to secure the future stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. This was just as important to them as it was to us. The remarks made by the Prime Minister during her press conference in Hong Kong last year had seriously offended the Chinese, and the British Government should be careful to avoid offending them again in the future. In the long term the whole range of our bilateral relations with the Chinese was more important than our relationship with Hong Kong.
CONFIDENTIAL