CONFIDENTIAL
To sum up on this point I think that by agreeing to this endorsement we would lose nothing, and would stand a very good chance of avoiding the worst of the confrontation in Hong Kong which now threatens.
I can see that the moves which are requested for the ethnic minorities and the ex-servicemen pose much greater problems. From the strictly Hong Kong point of view, given the Governor's advice, I would not have felt justified in pressing you to make concessions on them. However I am becoming concerned about the Parliamentary situation, particularly in the House of Lords. Although UMELCO may acquiesce in failure to meet these requests, they are unlikely to drop them publicly. If the Order, which is essential to the implementation of the nationality provisions of
the Sino-British agreement, were to suffer a defeat in
the Lords, we should be severely embarrassed vis-a-vis
the Chinese Government. It would also be very damaging to our relationship with Hong Kong. I therefore propose that we should set in hand urgently more detailed
studies of the implications of concessions in the two
areas of the ethnic minorities and the ex-servicemen.
I understand that the Hong Kong Government are prepared
to send officials to London to assist in this. At the
very least, even if we decide that no concessions are
possible, this will demonstrate clearly the Government
seriousness in reconsidering the position following
the two debates.
I hope very much that you can agree to these
proposals.
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