Mr jam
Hkb 010/4
"
RESTRICTED
13 MAY 1987
Di Late 19/5
"Sfer "s
izh
815
The PA Plas
FROM:
RJT McClaren
DATE:
8 May 1987
Cc:
7
PS/Mr Renton
Mr Gillmore
Mr Masefield, FED
TALK WITH SIR Y K PAO
1.
Sir Y K Pao invited me for a drink at his hotel yesterday evening. Many of his points were similar to those recorded in Mr Darroch's minute of 6 May about his lunch with Mr Renton.
2.
Sir Y K Pao spoke at some length about direct elections and their unsuitability for Hong Kong. Xu Jiatun had told him in Hong Kong after the Secretary of State's last meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister that the British were still insisting that the Hong Kong people should decide whether or not direct elections should be introduced in 1988. Was there some misunderstanding? I said that it would be for the HKG and HMG to take final decisions on the questions which would be dealt with in the Green Paper. To that extent Xu had not accurately reflected our position. But as Sir Y K knew, we were committed to a review of the system of representative government in 1987 and that review had to be genuine. It would be politically impossible to omit the question of direct elections and that, like other questions, would be dealt with in a balanced and neutral way in the Green Paper. The Survey Office would be looking for expressions of view from all sectors. of the community, not just those who were most vocal. Sir Y K accepted that the review had to go ahead but reiterated his own concern about direct elections, quoting Deng Xiaoping's remarks on the subject to the Basic Law Drafting Committee members.
Lee is one
one of a very 1 3. Sir Y K confirmed that he had been in Peking for the you who is speaking recent plenary meeting of the BLDC but did not have much to
He did however courageously a positively for HK in the BLDC'. comment on the attitudes adopted by some Hong Kong members, Puo is the many which he regarded as counter-productive. He had Mr Martin Lee
uming who are not. W's particularly in mind. Mr Lee had, for example, challenged
Dil this to but references to people from Hong Kong and Macau as "compatriots"
he
(Gang Ao tongbao). That sort of thing simply irritated dr- if he decl
Mainland members of the BLDC to no good purpose.
offer on the progress being made in that body.
4. Sir YK was reasonably optimistic about the Hong Kong economy but expressed concern, as he had done to Mr Renton, about the link between the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar. As things stood at present, the link provided a stimulus to Hong Kong exports, but if the exchange value of the US dollar continued to decline, the implications could be serious. Among other things, the Chinese would become concerned about their reduced earnings from Hong Kong.
RJT McLaren
RESTRICTED