CONFIDENTIAL
Minister can assure Councillors that their complaints have been
taken up with the Home Office. On the Basic Law the Minister can
report on his exchanges in Peking and the debate in the House of
Lords.
10. In a broader context more generally, a report on the Minister's discussion with Zhou Nan is likely to be a major feature
of the meeting with ExCo, with particular reference to the first SAR
Government (Brief No 6) and progress over implementation of the
Joint Declaration (Brief No 8).
11.
Sensitive bilateral (London/Hong Kong) issues which could
feature during the visit are the defence cost negotiations
(Brief No 9) (if these are not effectively settled during the next
round on 14 to 16 June) and the current review of the civil aviation
relationship (Brief No 11). A further round of the review will
coincide in Hong Kong with the Minister's visit, and there is a risk
that unresolved issues could be brought by the Hong Kong
Government to the Minister's attention.
12.
Finally OMELCO or the press may well raise emigration (Brief
No 10) or the proposed Expo in Hong Kong (Brief No 15). The latter
topic needs to be handled with particular care: we are
unenthusiastic, but must not be seen as vetoing a Hong Kong
initiative.
Hong Kong Department
June 1988
CONFIDENTIAL