Secretary of State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs
FOR USE WITH DAVID HOWELL
FAC Enquiries: Hong Kong
are Committee thinking of enquiry into Hong Kong?
there would be intense interest in Hong Kong, including lobbies which would try to turn report to their advantage (calls for faster change etc);
in current hot-house atmosphere in Hong Kong, there would be enormous publicity for any enquiry. Would need to consider its effect on ongoing dicussions with Chinese and within Hong Kong;
recommendations inconsistent with provisions of draft Basic Law or understandings we have reached with Chinese Government would obviously cause major political difficulties;
- if you do decide to go ahead, it
would be very helpful if we could speak informally about the scope of enquiry so as to avoid undermining progress we have made so far.