GRS 350
SECRET
FM HONG KONG
TO DESKBY 27090OZ FCO
TELNO 2048
OF 270645Z MAY 87
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING
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PERSONAL FOR HUM HKD, FROM GOVERNOR
YOUR TELNO 1429: LORD MACLEHOSE AND THE 1979 VISIT TO PEKING
* TAKE THE POINT IN PARA 3 OF TUR AND AM HAPPY TO MAKE THE AMENDMENT
YOU SUGGEST.
2.W CANNOT, HOWEVER, AGREE WITH THE SUGGESTION IN PARA 2 OF TUR. WE ARE DEALING HERE WITH A VERY DAMAGING MYTH THAT MUST BE NAILED F BT KS REPEATED. (HT WAS RECENTLY REVIWED PUBLICLY BY ANN QUON IN THE SUNDAY POST ON 10 MAY IN CONNECTION WITH LORD MACLEHOSE'S VINS:HT TO HONG KONG.} HT DAMAGES NOT ONLY LORD MACLEHOSE PERSONALLY AND ME BY ASSOCIATION, BUT ALSO THE REPUTATION OF HMG, WHICH IS ALLEGED TO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN A CONSPIRACY TO MISLEAD THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG. ẦN DO NOT BELIEVE THAT MF QUESTIONED DIRECTLY, CAN DODGE THE ISSUE.
3. HAVE HNFACT ALREADY HAD THIS SPRUNG ON ME UNEXPECTEDLY IN AN ANTERVIEW WITH DAVID DODWELL OF THE FINANCIRAL TIMES FOR THE AR ANNUAL HONG KONG SUPPLEMENT, WHICH WILL APPEAR IN MID-JUNE. # SAND THAT IT WAS NOT TRUE THAT DENG XIAOPING HAD TOLD LORD MACLEHOSE THAT CHANA WOULD TAKE HONG KONG BACK IN 1997: HE HAD MERELY REITERATED THE STANDARD LINE ABOUT HONG KONG BEING CHINESE TERRITORY WITHOUT GIVING A SPECIFIC TIME FOR THE RESUMPTION OF CHINESE CONTROL. ALSO MADE THE POINT ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE 1981 BRITISH NAT:IONALITY ACT LONG PRE-DATING TO THE 1979 VISIT TO PEK÷BNG.
4. BELIEVE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DAMAGING TO HAVE DODGED THE SSUE OR TO GIVE ANY OTHER RESPONSE. IN DOUBT OF THE CHINESE WOULD WISH TO TAKE ISSUE WITH US ON THIS POINT: ‹MT †S A PLAIN STATEMENT OF THE TRUTH. ONE ADDITIONAL FACTOR THAT NEEDS TO BE BORNE IN MIND IS THAT THE PRIME MINISTER WAS ASKED A QUESTION ON THIS SUBJECT AT HER PRESS CONFERENCE IN HONG KONG ON 21 DECEMBER 1984: HER EVASIVE REPLY (PRE- SUMABLY BECAUSE SHE WAS UNBRIEFED) WAS WIDELY INTERPRETED IN HONG KONG AS CONFIRMATION THAT THE ALLEGATION WAS TRUE.
5. BEARING IN MUND ALL THESE POINTS, BELIEVE # MUST, IF ASKED, REBUT THE ALLEGATION IN SPECIFIC TERMS. AN ORDER TO MEET TO SOME EXTENT THE POSSIBLE CHINESE SENS NT VANTHES TO WHICH YOU REFER, # SUGGEST THE FOLLOW.PNG ALTERNATIVE FORMULAT:HON OF THE FINAL SENTENCE IN PARA 2 (H) OF MY TELNO 2003:
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