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annoyed the Chinese. But she had to make our position of principle clear: you do not enter negotiations by conceding
your strongest point. Similarly, the Chinese insisted on responding with their position of principle.
ExCo versus FCO views
4. You explained that there were differences through the
negotiations, with ExCo taking a harder line. But these
were always thrashed out. You firmly refuted the view that
HMG had not wanted to continue to administer Hong Kong; had
relinquished Hong Kong for (unspecified) benefits to its bilateral relations with China; was beginning the
negotiations on the basis that continued British administration was impossible.
You declined to comment on
exchanges at a private lunch between Alan Donald,
Lord Bramall and the Chinese Ambassador in which Mr Donald
supposedly said that Mrs Thatcher would eventually "come
round" to the end of British administration. You said that
such an exchange would certainly have had no influence on the outcome of the negotiations.
Second phase of negotiations
5. You declined to comment on the content of individual
messages from the Prime Minister to Zhao Ziyang but
confirmed that they had served to unblock negotiations at
difficult times. Mr Roberti asked whether the list of ten
points handed to the Hong Kong Federation of Students when they visited China in July 1983 were already familiar to us.
You said that they were certainly not a new revelation.
Asked about Sir Edward Youde's participation in the
negotiations, you said that he spoke on occasions but of
course was responsible for a large input on the British
side. You added that one of the aims of the negotiations
throughout was to educate the Chinese on the realities of
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