CONFIDENTIAL covering SECRET
Government... The official Communist Chinese attitude in recent years has been rather in favour of the status quo' (paragraph 6 of Annex 5). The decision by the UK to cease transmission of information under Article 73 (e) of the Charter in 1972 was taken to avoid a public dispute with China over Hong Kong, and to avoid an annual debate on the subject which would have damaging consequences in the long term (Annex 2, paragraph 7b). Please let me know if you need any further information.
15 June 1989
CC:
сед
acobsen
C E Jacobson
Research Department OAB 2/76
Mr Hague, HKD, WH303 Mr Walker, Research Department
CONFIDENTIAL covering SECRET