CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL
4.
I said that I did not think there was a single person connected with the Hong Kong issue who was not perfectly clear what his views were. His letter to "The Times" could not have been more plain. But I was equally sure that he would not want to do anything which might harm the prospects of resolving the current problems. Frankly, I put in that category his intention to emphasise that the previous British policy had been right. The clear implication was that the present policy followed by the Governor and HMG was wrong. I knew he believed that. But I could not see that it helped anyone to repeat it. His views were listened to in Peking. We could easily be at a delicate stage in March. Public evidence from a person like him of lack of support for current policies would help to persuade the Chinese that we were on the run. I hoped he would think again.
5.
In any case, if he decided to go ahead with this, I should want to brief him at the time on the situation. I was confident that he would not want to do anything harmful if he knew the facts. He said he would welcome a
briefing at the time. He did not promise to think again about participation in the programme but I think he might reflect on how he handles it.
6.
Incidentally, he seemed sore about No 10. They had "cut him off"; no messages, no congratulations on his Privy Counsellorship.
Alu Woles.
Sir John Coles
CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL