072743
MDLIAN 7060
RECE
RESTRICTED
HKBOZ6
02.6/10
$
25
15 NOV 1990
за внатри
23
RESTRICTED
FM SINGAPORE
TO ROUTINE FCO
TELNO 533
OF 15024OZ NOVEMBER 90
TOP COPY
INFO ROUTINE HONG KONG, PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG
KONGST ?
YOUR TELNO 450: LEE KUAN YEW'S VISIT TO CHINA : HONG KONG
1. FIRST SECRETARY (POLITICAL/COORDINATION) CALLED ON CHAN HENG WING (DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND SOCIALIST STATES, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS) ON 14 NOVEMBER 1990 TO DISCUSS LEE KUAN YEW'S RECENT VISIT TO CHINA (16-24 OCTOBER).
2. CHAN, WHO ACCOMPANIED LEE ON HIS VISIT, SAID THAT LEE HAD HELD DISCUSSIONS WITH LI PENG, YANG SHANGKUN AND JIANG ZEMIN WHILE IN PEKING. HONG KONG HAD BEEN MENTIONED AT EACH OF THESE MEETINGS DURING DISCUSSION OF CHINA'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. THERE HAD BEEN NO DISCUSSION OF THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN HONG KONG OR THE PROSPECTS FOR HONG KONG AFTER 1997 NOR, CHAN SAID, HAD THE QUESTION OF CONFIDENCE BUILDING BEEN SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSED: THE CHINESE WERE, HE SAID, WELL AWARE OF SINGAPORE'S VIEWS ON, FOR EXAMPLE, THE TIANANMEN MASSACRE.
о
3. CHAN CONFIRMED WHAT FOREIGN MINISTER WONG KAN SENG HAD TOLD THE PRESS AFTER LEE KUAN YEW'S CALL ON LI PENG (MY TELNO 491). HE EXPLAINED THAT LEE HAD STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE FOR CHINA'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF MAINTAINING CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD. CHINA SHOULD, LEE HAD SAID, DO ALL IT COULD TO ''PLUG ITSELF IN' TO POTENTIAL SOURCES OF TRADE AND INVESTMENT. A PROSPEROUS HONG KONG COULD PROVIDE A MODEL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA, INWARD INVESTMENT AND ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
4. PAXMAN ASKED HOW LEE'S MESSAGE HAD BEEN RECEIVED BY THE CHINESE. CHAN SAID THAT, OF LEE'S THREE INTERLOCUTORS, YANG SHANGKUN HAD PROVED THE MOST RECEPTIVE. LI PENG AND JIANG ZEMIN HAD LISTENED CAREFULLY BUT APPEARED TO PLACE THE NEED TO ASSERT CHINA'S SOVEREIGNTY OVER HONG KONG ABOVE THE NEED FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN LEE HAD SAID THAT HONG KONG HAD AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY IN CHINA'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
LI PENG HAD REPLIED THAT WHAT HAPPENED IN CHINA WAS ALSO IMPORTANT FOR HONG KONG AND HONG KONG SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION TO THIS.
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