Mr Galsworthy
CONFIDENTIAL
рр
PP / Meeting Point
3
FROM:
A R Paul
Жав
011/2
DATE:
25 March 1993
RECE
IN REGISTRY
CC:
16
F
Mr Ricketts, HKD Mr Llewellyn, GH
INDEX
PA
REGISTRY Action Taken
ANTHONY CHEUNG BING-LEUNG
1. I had two long talks with the Chairman of Meeting Point recently, first on 17 March (the day of Lu Ping's press conference) and again on 23 March (after Cheung's return from Peking where he met Lu Ping).
2. Cheung said that the following points had emerged from his meeting with Lu Ping on 18 March:
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Lu Ping had genuinely wanted talks with Britain and had prepared a detailed negotiating position. The Chinese side would have been prepared to show flexibility on the substance;
the Governor's decision to gazette the Bill had taken Lu Ping totally by surprise;
nevertheless the door to talks was still open, provided the legislation was not introduced into LegCo.
3. Cheung could shed no light on what specific flexibility the Chinese would have been willing to show; nor did he have much idea about what the Chinese were likely to do next. He did not however think that they were likely to take an early initiative, and certainly not during the NPC period. Cheung said that he hoped that a way around the "Hong Kong representation" issue could be found. He personally did not find it a convincing breaking point. In his view, Hong Kong Government officials did not equate with the people of Hong Kong. There were other ways (eg informal contacts in the course of the negotiations) in which the views of the community could be sought.
4.
What was clear, however, was that the community wanted talks to be given a chance; and hoped for convergence and continuity. He admitted however that this was beginning to look increasingly unlikely.
5.
Cheung said that the option of putting the legislation to LegCo and leaving it to LegCo to dilute it was less satisfactory than the talks route because:
it would produce a result similar to one which could emerge from talks, but would leave the Chinese free to denounce the result and set up their own arrangements in 1997 anyway;
CONFIDENTIAL