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3. Continuing, the Governor said that the talks were now being conducted in a calmer atmosphere than in September 1983.
A very important issue, bearing in mind that any agreement had to be acceptable to China, the British Parliament and the people of Hong Kong, was the attitude of people in Hong Kong to whatever agreement was reached. Unless confidence could be maintained in Hong Kong, the objective (shared by China) of continued prosperity and stability in Hong Kong would not be achieved. The Chinese plan had been well publicised and, on the face of it, was reasonable. But in the light of recent Chinese history, Hong Kong people were looking for guarantees that it would work. It was not easy, now in 1984, to provide credible guarantees in relation to a situation which would arise in 13 years, but it was essential that any agreement should be credible. Most Hong Kong people would have no choice but to stay. However, the professional and middle classes were mobile; many of them could leave, and it was therefore important that they should have confidence in the integrity of any agreement. So the dimensions of the problem were first, the realities of the Chinese position, secondly, the acceptability of any agreement to the UK Parliament, and thirdly, the need for an agreement to be credible to the people of Hong Kong.
4. The Governor said that the Chinese were continuing to publicize their intention to make an announcement in September. They were probably now committed to making some announcement. But they could not themselves determine the effects in Hong Kong of what they would say. So the terms of an announcement and whether HMG could be associated with it were crucial. In reply to a question, the Governor said it would clearly be preferable if HMG could be associated with an announcement, but much would depend
on its terms.
/5.
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