SECRET
GR 350
SECRET
FM HONG KONG 1209OOZ JAN 84
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TOP COPY
HKK040/1
RECEIVED IN HLGISTRY
15 JAN 1934
BRY
DESK OF, (
TELEGRAM NUMBER 85 OF 12 JANUARY
Taken
{
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING
हमामा
(16
YOUR TELNO 45: FUTURE OF HONG KONG: PRESS COVERAGE OF SPEECH BY XU JIATUN
1. FULL TEXT OF KEY EXTRACTS FROM XU JIATUN'S SPEECH IS IN MIFT NCNA HAVE NOW ALSO DISTRIBUTED A PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF THE QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION WHICH FOLLOWED HIS SPEECH. THIS WAS CARRIED BY THE COMMUNIST AND SOME INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS TODAY (12 JANUARY). A FULL ACCOUNT IS IN TODAY'S PRESS COVERAGE TELEGRAM.
POINTS
2. XU DID NOT (NOT) NUMBER THE INTS IN HIS SPEECH: THIS WAS DONE FOR CLARITY IN OUR TELNO 72. WE HAVE COMPARED XU'S REMARKS WITH THE PREVIOUS PUBLIC EXPLANATIONS OF CHINESE INTENTIONS, AS WELL AS WITH THE 12 POINTS SET OUT BY YAO GUANG IN THE NEGOTIATIONS ON 14 NOVEMBER. ALTHOUGH XU'S SPEECH IS THE FIRST OCCASION ON WHICH ALL THESE POINTS HAVE BEEN MADE IN A PUBLIC AND ON-THE-RECORD STATEMENT BY A CHINESE OFFICIAL OF XU'S STANDING, THE ONLY POINT WHICH SEEMS TO US TO BE A NEW ONE IS THAT IN PARA 1(D) OF OUR TEL UNDER REF ABOUT CIVIL SERVANTS REMAINING AT THEIR POSTS. THIS CONSTITUTES A MORE GENERAL AND LESS QUALIFIED UNDERTAKING THAN ANY GIVEN IN THE NEGOTIATIONS OR INFORMAL CONTACTS. HOWEVER, IT IS CONSISTENT WITH PREVIOUS CHINESE TACTICS FOR A SOFTER SIDE OF THE CHINESE MESSAGE TO BE PLAYED UP WHEN IT IS DIRECTED AT A HONG KONG AUDIENCE.
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3. THE CENTRAL PART OF XU'S SPEECH COVERS THE CHINESE 12 POINTS EXCEPT THAT XU DID NOT SPECIFICALLY MENTION INDEPENDENT FINANCES (POINT 8 OF THE RECORD OF THE 14 NOVEMBER SESSION) AND HE REFERRED TO POINTS 4, 6 AND 10 IN SUMMARISED FORM. THE OTHER POINTS MENTIONED IN PARA 2 OF YOUR TEL UNDER REF HAVE ALL BEEN AIRED PUBLICLY BEFORE, NOTABLY IN THE TEN POINTS GIVEN TO A DELEGATION OF HONG KONG STUDENTS IN JULY LAST YEAR AND REPORTED IN OUR
MKKCOHOR TELNO 1105 OF 29 JULY 1963. WHILST THESE TEN POINTS WERE NOTIONALLY 1983 (176)
SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY THE STUDENTS THEMSELVES, THEY WERE EXTENSIVELY PUBLICISED BY THE LOCAL COMMUNIST PRESS AT THE TIME IN A MANNER WHICH INDICATED CLEARLY THAT THEY CONSTITUTED AN AUTHORIZED STATEMENT OF CHINESE POLICY.
See (34
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