Restricted
UMB
RECE
-S FEB 1993
Mr Ham PS/Mr Goodlad
Other 20%
Mimiter
STRY
20 JAN 1993
FROM: P F Ricketts
Hong Kong Department
DATE: 20 January 1993
Ec: Sir J Coles
©
HONG KONG: CHINESE PRESSURES ON SWIRES
A 1. Sir A Swire wrote to Mr Goodlad and to Sir J Coles in
B
C
December describing the PRC pressures on Swires. In his reply of 16 December, Mr Goodlad made clear his appreciation of the
delicate position in which Swires finds itself. Sir Adrian
responded that he was grateful for this understanding, but was
not confident that the Swires' relationship with the PRC would
return to normal once the political problems had been resolved.
2.
The Chinese have adopted a more moderate tone since this
exchange of correspondence took place. There have been no
further overt threats, following the NCNA statement on Jardines, against British Hong Kong companies. Also, the Swires man on
LegCo Howard Young (who was one of the Allen Lee delegation) has
taken care to oppose the Governor's proposals, and has put
forward alternatives of his own which would be far more
palatable to the Chinese. The Chinese would no doubt expect
this of Mr Young given that he is a member of the CRC, but they will probably also feel that it reflects the pressure they have placed on him and on Swires.
pressure.ADM.JRB
Restricted