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Discussions on Hong Kong's future dominated
the visits to Peking and Hong Kong which I undertook
last month.
My visit to Peking lasted from 15 to 18
April. My aim there was to review the course of the
negotiations so far and to give them a new impetus
at Ministerial level. I held talks with the
Chinese Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian, with State Counsellor
Ji Pengfei, Head of the Hong Kong and Macao Office of
the State Council, with Premier Zhao Ziyang and with
Chairman Deng Xiaoping. By far the greatest part of
the talks was spent in serious and detailed discussion
of all aspects of the future of Hong Kong.
were businesslike and the atmosphere good.
The meetings
I went on to Hong Kong and there held discussions
with the Governor and the Unofficial members of the Executive
and Legislative Councils. This was my fifth meeting,
my first in Hong Kong, with members of the Executive
Council. I also met representatives of a wide range of
local opinion including members of the Urban Council
and the district boards, and of the business community.
In Hong Kong, my purpose was not only to consult,
but also to explain the way in which the Government is
approaching the present negotiations on Hong Kong's
future. This I did in a public statement which I
made on 20 April:
Copies have, of course, been
deposited in the library of the House.