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CONFIDENTIAL #3
visit was
2
pointless and meaningless because Sir
Geoffrey did not bring with him any concrete offer,
nor did he bother to listen seriously to views of
the people.
Some cynics said that if the purpose of
the visit were to rub salt into the wound, Sir Geoffrey
had succeeded tremendously. Others said that he
certainly did not need to travel this far to buy
mangoes or visit a market.
Another speculation was
that Mrs. Margaret Thatcher had sent Sir Geoffrey
here as a "whipping boy" for Hong Kong people.
There was, however, a consensus that the
visit was counter-productive in two aspects. Firstly,
it made people feel more pessimistic about the future
of Hong Kong. Secondly, it aroused considerable
anti-British feelings among the people.
The overall reactions can be summarised
as follows:
it was
shameful for the British Government
to evade its moral
responsibility;
the British
and
Government was
constitutional
untrustworthy
because it was only interested in exploiting.
Hong Kong's position for its own long-term
gains in China;
most felt that all hope in
in the fight for
CONFIDENTIAL #3
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