2
3.
The Governor asked whether Senator McConnell knew any reasons
as to why was the issue of MFN was so close to Senator Mitchell's
heart. Senator McConnell replied that he did not know the genesis
of Senator Mitchell's cause. Issues at his home constituency did
not appear to be the driving force.
4.
The Governor briefed Senator McConnell on the current
situation regarding Hong Kong's talks with China on constitutional
development. He first thanked the Senator for his continued
interest in Hong Kong. He said China always feared that other
countries would interfere with her affairs. Hong Kong's future
prosperity would however depend on the relationship between the US
and China and hence it was useful for the US to express an interest
in Hong Kong. with regard to constitutional development, the
Governor said public opinion in Hong Kong still showed very strong
support for his proposals. The public's attitude would vary
according to the amount of criticisms and attacks from China.
There might be two reasons for China's agreeing to talks on Hong
Kong's constitutional development:
(a) MFN, GATT;
(b)
China might have arrived at a stage from where they had
to decide either firing blank bullets or real bullets at
Hong Kong.
17