CONFIDENTIAL
21
014510
MDHIAN 0755
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO DESKBY 31103OZ FCO
TELNO 2393
OF 31085OZ JULY 90
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
PERSONAL FOR MARSDEN HKD FROM ACTING GOVERNOR
YOUR TELNO 1439:
·
HKB 020122.
RECEIVED IN RECICERY Q 1 AUG 1990
COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS' MEETING 1991
1 IT IS TRUE THAT OUR POLICY IS USUALLY TO WELCOME THE HOLDING OF
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES IN HONG KONG. BUT COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS MEETINGS SEEM TO US TO FALL INTO A DIFFERENT CATEGORY.
2. HONG KONG WILL OF COURSE HAVE TO LEAVE THE COMMONWEALTH IN 1997.
WE WILL THEREFORE SOON BE PROPOSING TO EXCO AND TO YOU THAT WE
SHOULD IN PRINCIPLE BEGIN TO WITHDRAW GRADUALLY FROM ORGANISATIONS
AND MEETINGS RELATED SPECIFICALLY TO THE COMMONWEALTH (ALTHOUGH WE MAY ATTEMPT, IN SOME CASES, TO RETAIN USEFUL LINKS WITH INDIVIDUAL COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES THROUGH OTHER MEANS).
3. IN RECENT YEARS HONG KONG HAS NOT PLAYED MUCH PART IN THE
COMMONWEALTH FINANCE MINISTERS MEETING. BUT WE THOUGHT THAT IT
MIGHT BE WRONG NOT TO SEND A REPRESENTATIVE NEXT YEAR IF THE
MEETING IS TO BE HELD IN THIS REGION.
4
·
PEKING AND UKREP JLG ARE BETTER PLACED THAN WE ARE TO ASSESS
CHINESE SENSITIVITIES ABOUT THE MEETING TAKING PLACE IN HONG KONG. SEEN FROM HERE, HOWEVER, IT SEEMS POSSIBLE THAT FOLLOWING CHINESE SENSITIVITY OVER THE COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING IN
KUALA LUMPUR THE CHINESE MIGHT REGARD A MEETING HERE AS A WAY OF
INTERNATIONALISING HONG KONG IN ANOTHER SEMI-POLITICAL FORUM.
5. WE ARE ALSO WARY OF TAKING ON THE CONSIDERABLE ADMINISTRATIVE
LOAD OF RUNNING AND HOSTING THE CONFERENCE AT A PARTICULARLY BUSY
TIME OF YEAR, PARTICULARLY AS WE THINK IT LIKELY THAT WE SHALL BE ASKED TO HOST THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK MEETING IN MAY 1992. NOT
ONLY IS THERE THE QUESTION OF THE PREPARATORY WORK IN WHICH WE
SHALL BE INVOLVED FOR THAT MEETING BUT IT MAY BE NOTED THAT THE
CHINESE HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY SUPPORTIVE TO THE HOLDING OF SUCH A .
MEETING HERE. IT WOULD BE A GREAT PITY IF THAT SUPPORT WERE
DISSIPATED IN ADVANCE BY THE CHINESE TAKING OFFENCE OVER THE
.
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CONFIDENTIAL