CONFIDENTIAL
particularly warm reference to what had been achieved in the negotiations, and to my own personal role. I was able to respond in similar vein: all this very much before the eyes
of the world.
For all that, our task in administering Hong Kong for
the next twelve years will not be easy. On the one hand we
must maintain a relationship of cooperation with the Chinese.
On the other we must not allow Hong Kong's interests to be
ignored or misinterpreted. You will remember that during the
negotiations in Peking I searched for a striking comparison
which would bring home to the Chinese, with the directness of
one of their own proverbs, the fragility of confidence in Hong
Kong. In the end I described Hong Kong as like a Ming vase which
had to be handed on with the greatest care from one runner in
a relay race to another. The vase remains intact: but it is
still fragile. Patience, calm and skill will be needed in
London and Hong Kong: no doubt also in Peking.
I should like in conclusion to reaffirm our commitment
to the future. The prize of success is very great; the penalty of failure would be correspondingly heavy. Spurred by these twin considerations I think I can assure you that this Government and
its successors will continue to regard the successful implementation of the Joint Declaration as of the highest importance.
I am copying this letter to Richard Evans in Peking.
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Howe
зажи Suuren Komme
GEOFFREY HOWE
CONFIDENTIAL