1 December 1992
Richard Hoare
PS/GH
HONG KONG
CONFIDENTIAL
DIEU
MONDROI
Commonwealth
MWR out Foreign &
Office
London SWIA 2AH
Telephone: 071-
177
Der Richard,
CHINA/HONG KONG: MFN STATUS
1. I enclose a copy of a letter from No10 recording a discussion between the Prime Minister and the American Ambassador. As you will see, Mr Seitz quotes a comment by the Governor on making Chinese treatment of Hong Kong a condition for MFN renewal.
2.
We have been batting backwards and forwards over the last few days thoughts on advice for the Prime Minister on this point. The difficulty is of course squaring the circle of how to bring US pressure to bear on China, but in a way which does not make MFN renewal impossible. I enclose a draft Private Secretary letter which is my attempt to square this circle. Would the Governor be content for this to go to No10?
You
PF Ricketts
ever
1
Pover
Hong Kong Department
hk.mfn.PET
SLM
CONFIDENTIAL
1