CONFIDENTIAL
DSR 11C
31 July 1984 that, despite all that he had said before,
the Chinese had finally come to the conclusion in the
course of the negotiations that they could trust Britain
on Hong Kong. The second was my meeting with EXCO the
next day in Hong Kong when Sir SY Chung expressed his
appreciation of the efforts of all involved and said that
the agreement was likely to be such that the Unofficials
could commend i t to the people of Hong Kong in good
conscience.
As you acknowledge in your despatch the role of the
Unofficials in the negotiation was a difficult one. They
fought hard for what they perceived to be the
the interests
of Hong Kong, and the confidentiality of the negotiations
prevented them from consulting the people of Hong Kong
about what was and what was not acceptable. They often
had to mak e difficult judgments, and they made them
courageously.
unnaturally their very determination
tensions between them and the
your handling of their advice which
ensured that there was never an outright split. I regard
a remarkable achievement, and one which was
crucial to the success of our endeavours. Without EXCO we
should not have carried the Hong Kong people.
at times
negotiators.
3
this as
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produced
It was
CONFIDENTIAL