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HWB 02711
British High Commission
Ottawa
168
19 November 1992
F CO
80 Elgin Street Ottawa KIP 5K7
From the High Commissioner
Mr Cox (Peking)
PF Ricketts Esq
Hong Kong Department
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23/11
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VISIT OF THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG TO CANADA
1. Ottawa telno 441 gave a general report of Chris
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Patten's visit to Canada. We were very grateful for the additional material which you sent us about current developments in Hong Kong. It may be worth adding a few points based on the conversation which I had with the Governor when he called on me on 13 November as part of his Ottawa programme.
2.
Chris Patten told me that he found the Canadian Government very supportive of his present strategy. Mulroney had made that very clear during their discussion early that day. The discussion with Mulroney, however, had been in very general terms, and the Governor had not had to explain in detail how he would overcome Chinese opposition. I knew that officials had briefed Barbara McDougall, the Canadian Foreign Minister, to ask the Governor to explain how he saw the way forward; I warned Patten that she would probably do this. But in the event, I gather that Barbara McDougall also contented herself with strong, general backing for the Governor's policies, without pressing him on what might happen next.
3. The Governor told me that the Canadians believed that his way of dealing with China was the right one; they claimed to have reached this conclusion earlier than HMG had. I said that the High Commission would always be ready to intervene with the Canadians if their resolve seemed to weaken. The Governor thought that British and Canadians positions were more likely to diverge if our own resolve weakened. He knew that the Chinese had responded to Canadian expressions of support for Hong Kong by threatening reprisals, such as refusing to buy Canadian grain. But the Canadians had shrugged off these threats, convinced that the Chinese did not have the ability to make them good.
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24/11
Mr.
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