CONFIDENTIAL
127
167407
MDHOAN 1790
HKCC 012/4
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
1 APR 1993
CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO
TO DESKBY 20010OZ HONG KONG
TELNO 340
OF 191731Z APRIL 93
AND TO DESKBY 20010OZ PEKING
TOP COPY Q DIST?
INFO IMMEDIATE UKREP JLG HONG KONG, UKREP BRUSSELS
DISK OFFICEK
REGIST:
INDEX
PA
Acton Tol.
FOLLOWING FOR GOVERNOR FROM HUM, AUSS
YOUR TELNO 600:
1.
23/0
25
CHINESE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST JARDINES
Your telegram arrived just after the despatch of our telno 232 to Peking, setting out instructions to Sir R McLaren. I have now spoken to Sir Charles Powell to clarify the position.
2.
Powell was aware of the idea discussed with Barrow that we should allow the EC Commission to take the lead in raising with the Chinese their ban on business with Jardines. He was clear however that Jardines would prefer to see action by the Embassy in Peking, not least because of the risk that action by the Commission would become public. I explained to him the course of action proposed in our telno 232 to Peking. He was grateful and entirely content, subject to two minor comments:
(a)
he hoped that action with MOFTEC would not be taken at too low a level, given that Jardines had tackled Ambassador Ma at the London end:
(b)
he accepted the strategy of separating our representations from the talks on Hong Kong and directing them at MOFTEC. But he suggested that since the MFA had presumably been behind the instruction to cease businesss with Jardines it would would be helpful if the Embassy could have a quiet word in parallel with an MFA official, to draw attention to the line taken with MOFTEC.
Powell would clearly prefer an informal approach by Sir R McLaren to Jiang Enzhu (separate from the Hong Kong talks) but accepted that the level of the approach was a matter for our discretion.
3.
In the light of this we suggest that Peking go ahead as instructed in our telno 232, but speaking informally to the MFA in parallel once action has been taken with MOFTEC. You may feel
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