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3.
Inside the country the Chinese leadership has been making an effort to explain and sell the agreement. They are clearly anxious to protect themselves against criticism for not having taken a hard enough line with us in the negotiations or even for agreeing to negotiate on what are
internal matters.
seen as
CHAIRMAN DENG XIAOPING
4. Deng has clearly maintained a close interest in Hong Kong
He is the Chinese both throughout and since the negotiations. leader who has the ultimate say in decisions on Hong Kong's future. He did not follow all the detail of the negotiations (and probably does not have all the detail of the agreement at his fingertips): but appears to have intervened decisively, and not always helpfully, on a number of key points.
5. Deng's particular anxiety appears to be that the United Kingdom will not administer Hong Kong effectively up to 1 July 1997. He seems to fear that HMG could syphon off funds from Hong Kong, and
that the Hong Kong Government will not be able to prevent disturbances in the territory. Deng told Sir Geoffrey Howe on 31 July 1984 that he was very concerned about the period up to 1997: nothing should be done to affect the value of the Hong Kong Dollar.
6.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
the income from land sales should be used for land development and capital construction and not for current expenditure.
the Hong Kong Government should not increase the size of the public service before 1997, nor substantially increase their salaries or pensions, which might face the
SAR Government with a major burden.
the Hong Kong Government should not seek to impose their preferred personnel on the future SAR Government.
he hoped Hong Kong would discourage a wholesale flight of capital. He hoped the Government could reassure the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank not to move its base from the territory as Jardines had done.
Deng has revealed in public his worries that there will be
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