CONFIDENTIAL
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Constit.
Dept
(194)
Mr Ricketts, Hong Kong Department
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Mr White Distag
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11 MUST
Secretary of State's meeting on Hong Kong, 16 November Mer-Tones
You and others will have taken notes at the Secretary of State's meeting with the Governor of Hong Kong. I think the main points of interest for follow up were that:
the Governor is clear in his mind that he should hang tough with the Chinese until the New Year;
on the other hand, it would be wrong for him, as leader of the Hong Kong Government, to be more or less brave than LegCo over the new Constitutional arrangements;
the Governor confirmed that a referendum on the Constitutional proposals was, in his, view, out of the question. It would be "decisively devisive", and if the Hong Kong Government lost the referendum they would have a more difficult time recovering their position than after losing a vote in LegCo;
the Governor hoped to go to Washington at a fairly early date, but would need an appointment with President Clinton;
it should be made clear to the Chinese that their attempts to drive wedges between the British Government and the Hong Kong Government would get them nowhere. The Secretary of State emphasised that all people connected with the British and Hong Kong Government S should be singing exactly the same tune.
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