HKK 040/31
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
23 OCT 1984
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
UNCLASSIFIED
HY
FROM:
PA
Autor týken
pa
TEJ Mound, HKD
DATE: 19 October 1984
m.
125
23/10
PS/Mr
yuce
Mangøver
HONG KONG AGREEMENT: MPS' VIEWS
CC: PS
PS/PUS
Sir P Cradock
Sir W Harding
Mr Boyd
Parliamentary Unit
1. In your minute of 15 October to Mr Galsworthy you asked for a
progress report on MPs' views on and reaction to the draft
agreement. At his meeting yesterday Mr Luce asked for as full a list as possible. This is attached, up to date.
2. Most of those MPs who have expressed an opinion regard the
agreement the best that could have been obtained in the
circumstances. A number see it as a diplomatic triumph. George Robertson praised the Government's acceptance of the historical reality facing Hong Kong. Russell Johnston for the Liberal Party said China's willingness to contemplate "two systems, one nation" was "an historic concession". David Owen's statement mentioned "Mrs Thatcher's blunder over sovereignty" but concluded that the agreement is the best
is the best possible.
3. MPs' main concerns have been
(i) the acceptability of the agreement to the people of Hong Kong;
and
(ii) the issue of nationality.
UNCLASSIFIED