OUT TELEGRAM (CONT)
Classification and Caveats
CONFIDENTIAL
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Ordinance, despite the view of his association, presented to the
assessment office, that it should be repealed. This concern, as
4 to some extent the concerns set out in paragraph 1,
out in paragraph 1, appeared to
relate not so much to the present (Wong accepted that the Hong
Kong Government's approach to the press at present was liberal)
but more to the period after 1997 when such laws could be used in
draconian manner by the SAR Government.
LO
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3. Mr Luce emphasised that these were matters for the HKG. He
understood that a UMELCO sub-committee was considering the points
submitted by the Hong Kong Journalists Association on the LEGCO
(Powers and Privileges) Bill. He said however that he would seek
the views of the Hong Kong Government on Wong's concerns and
write to him in due course. We should be grateful for material
on which to base a Letter (we note that you already propose to
amend but not to drop paragraph 20 your TUR refers).
4.
Wong lastly referred to Hu Yaobang's recent statements that
the press must toe the Party line and that the CCP would be
actively developed in Hong Kong in future. The agreement was 20 silent on the role of the CCP in the SAR but it was to be feared
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that a First Party Secretary in Hong Kong after 1997, even if he
officially were to hold no government position, might well
control the day to day operation of the press as the CCP
propaganda departments did at present in China.
Wong asked
whether the British Government would, through the Joint Liaison
Group (JLG), seek clarification of the role of the CCP in the
future SAR.
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5. Mr Luce said that the JLG's main task was to ensure a smooth
transition. This meant, as the agreement spelled out, dealing
with such matters as Hong Kong's future position in the GATT etc.
The important points to remember were that the system in Hong
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Kong after 1997 would remain capitalist and would not be
communist and that freedom of the press was specifically
enshrined in the agreement. Mr Luce gave no commitment that we
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