Mr Burns
CONFIDENTIAL
Низ за
FROM: P
DATE:
Ricketts
Hong Kong Department
15 November 1991
ли
ML GA dhr
ли
Tangela 18 15/11
CC:
PS/Lord Caithness
Mr Crystal
News Department
HONG KONG: REPLY TO SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST EDITORIAL
pa.
I attach JLG Hong Kong telnos 545 and 546, together
with a copy of the offending SCMP article.
1.
2.
I agree with Mr Galsworthy that we should not let this pass without comment. Martin Lee and others in LegCo are
bound to seize on it as part of their campaign to make HKG
more accountable to LegCo on JLG matters. We need to get
our own account on the record and Mr Galsworthy's draft provides a suitably trenchant way of doing so.
3. The vehemence of the SCMP leader illustrates again the depth of suspicion in Hong Kong about the JLG process and the hard slog we shall have to reach a more cooperative approach with the new LegCo to relations with China.
4.
I have discussed with Mr Tibber the question of
whether Lord Caithness should be consulted about the
proposed reply. Given that it does no more than set the record straight in factual terms, and the advantages of a
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CONFIDENTIAL
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