Mr Galsworthy HKD
SECRET
HICK ONE
040/50
31
From: H Jay, PS/PUS
Date: 3 September 1984
cc: Private Secretary
PS/Mr Luce
Sir P Cradock
Ir Goulden, News Dept
FUTURE OF HONG KONG: WHITE PAPER
1. The PUS saw over the weekend the draft White Paper attached to your submission of 31 August. He has the following comments, which you might like to take into account in conjunction with those which the Secretary of State and others may have.
2.
On procedure, the PUS thinks the right course would be for the White Paper to be discussed in OD(K) after a draft has been shown to the Prime Minister.
3.
You may like to see the PUS's annotations on the draft below. His main comments are as follows:
(1)
V
(2)
(3)
(4)
There needs to be more emphasis in paragraph 10 on conditionality, perhaps in the sentence beginning 'The British side therefore proposed and in the sentence referring to the reference by HMG of the agreement to Parliament;
There should be a reference in paragraph 10 to consultation throughout the negotiations with EXCO, with a reference to the more detailed discussion of this in paras 15 to 17;
There should be some linking sentence between paragraphs 12 and 13;
There should be some explanation of 'initialling' the agreement, in order to ensure that the White Paper does not give the impression that HMC is committed to the agreement once it has been initialled. As the PUS understands it, initialling means that the negotiators have got as far as they can and that they agree that the text represents accurately the outcome of their
discussions;
(5) Some amendments are needed to paragraph 27, on
the lines of the PUS's annotations below. In particular, the PUS thinks that the statement that the ceded territories 'must also therefore revert' is too stark, and would probably not be acceptable to the Prime Minister: it should be expanded and softened.
SECRET
/4.