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From the Private Secretary
CONFIDENTIAL
ET MON
10 DOWNING STREET
LONDON SWIA 2AA
HKB 02017
IY
MAY 1990
Mr. Colvia SEAD
де
PS/Lord Brabazon
PS/Mr. Mande Mr. Gillmor
Mr. Mcharen Mr. David NCAD Mr. Paul HVED
5
20 April 1990 M. James, FE7
Davies,
Dew dimen
PRIME MINISTER'S MEETING WITH THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF
SINGAPORE
The Prime Minister had a talk this morning with the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr. Goh Chok Tong. Mr. Goh was accompanied by Brigadier General George Yeo, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Finance, and by the Singaporean High Commissioner.
The Prime Minister began with some complimentary remarks about Singapore, which bore witness to the fact that you should not judge the wealth of a country by its natural assets, but by the enterprise of its people.
The Prime Minister continued that we were much looking forward to the visit of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew next month. When was he intending to step down as Prime Minister? Mr. Goh thought it would probably be in late November or early December. In response to a further question from the Prime Minister, Mr. Goh said that he did not expect Mr. Lee Kuan Yew to become the first elected President of Singapore: he had always made clear that he did not wish it to appear that his proposal for an elected President was prompted by personal considerations. It was more likely that he would become a Senior Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, and act as a sort of consultant to the rest of
the Government.
The Prime Minister recalled her conversation with Mr. Lee in Kuala Lumpur about drug trafficking. We hoped very much that Singapore would soon introduce legislation to confiscate the assets of drug traffickers, so that we could sign a bilateral agreement. Mr. Goh said that Singapore had decided in principle to legislate, and there would be a draft bill by the end of the year.
The Prime Minister said we were very grateful for the scheme which Singapore had introduced to extend permanent resident status to 25,000 heads of family in Hong Kong. Our own legislation on citizenship was likewise intended to strengthen confidence in Hong Kong. Mr. Goh said there was no doubt that confidence was at present badly shaken. Everything depended on the Chinese Government's behaviour. The Prime Minister said there seemed little prospect of improvement in that quarter. Mr. Goh commented that he did not find this surprising. The old
CONFIDENTIAL