SECRET
c)
d)
the Government of the PRC have always regarded their arrangements with the people of Tibet as an internal question and not a question of international concern. But they have admitted that they made mistakes there, especially in the 1960s during the national upheaval of the Cultural Revolution;
future arrangements for Hong Kong are a different matter. The Chinese have made widely known that they envisage a high degree of autonomy for the territory and they have specified in some detail what form they have in mind for Hong Kong's social, legal and economic systems. They have also indicated that they are prepared to express a firm and public commitment to these arrangements. They have made provision for this degree of autonomy in their current constitution.
31 January 1984
PA B Thomson
Far Eastern Department
SECRET