02 DEC '92 11:07 M & CO 3 LOMBARD ST.
P.4/6
And they have threatened that after 1997 they will invalidate
contracts signed with the present Hong Kong Government, unless
they have been agreed with China in advance.
To us the Chinese reaction appears wholly disproportionate.
And it flies in the face of their own commitment to uphold Hong
Kong's stability and prosperity.
But to solve a problem you have first to understand how it
looks through the other fellow's eyes. Although Chris Patten has
stated explicitly that he wants to discuss his proposals with the
Chinese, China feels it should have been consulted in advance.
They have a point: the previous pattem has been for Britain
to discuss ideas for constitutional change with China before going
public. Turn the situation round and imagine that the Chinese
were to return the Isle of Man to British sovereignty in 1997. We
would certainly want to be consulted about proposed changes in
the way the island was governed.
To escape from the present deadlock is going to take
political creativity of a high order. But Chris Patten is rightly
renowned for that.
Two points are crucial to resolving the impasse.
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