CONFIDENTIAL
(e) UK/FRG talks on Asia, 24 July
8. In his discussions with his German opposite number, Mr McLaren reiterated the need for the international community to provide a safety net if the worst came to the worst in Hong Kong. His interlocutor was non-commital
WAY FORWARD
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9. We must continue to press the case of Hong Kong and the need for the international community to reaffirm their confidence in Hong Kong and to give the strongest possible assurances about what they would do in the event of things going wrong in the territory. There is a strong expectation in this country and in Hong Kong that we should undertake urgent and detailed discussions with other governments, and indeed to give a strong lead ourselves. We should take advantage of every bilateral and multilateral opportunity. I attach a table setting out a multilateral action plan: this includes action to be taken at the 8/9 December European Council.
10. It has been relatively easy to get our partners and allies to focus on the problem of Hong Kong in the aftermath of recent events in China. We have also succeeded in sensitising them to the fact that they would have a shared responsibility to help if the worst comes to the worst. But it will be much more difficult if not
impossible to extract firm commitments from these governments in the absence of an evident crisis and eight years before the transfer of sovereignty. It will be all the harder to do so as long as the British Government are unable to be specific about what they would do. Other countries would certainly look to us to give a lead.
11. As Mr Maude is aware, OD (K) decided to defer decisions about a
UK scheme of assurances, pending further work by officials. An announcement is unlikely before September at the earliest. In the absence of such an announcement, I do not think that any further work with our EC partners would be worthwhile at this stage. But once decisions have been taken and announced, we should certainly seek to maximise this by pressing for comparable arrangements from other countries.
CONFIDENTIAL