Senior Minister Singapore
2 January 1993
Dear Chris
Thank you for your letter of 23 December,
I assumed that the British Government must have known that the US Government under President Bush had been pressing for more Democracy and Human Rights in China and also that Presidential candidate Bill Clinton considered President Bush's policy on China and Iraq to be a "coddling of dictators".
A week after my lecture, you will have read that on 22 December, President-elect Clinton in Little Rock Arkansas referred to the US trade deficit of US$15b with China and said "that should give us some ground for serious discussion about what kind of world we want to live in and where we're going to go, the kind of freedom that the people of Hong Kong are going to have, what kind of freedom the people of China are going to have and how we can move forward together.
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The Chinese Government cannot be persuaded that the practice of democracy in Hong Kong is separate and distinct from the question of democracy in China. Hong Kong's lifestyle, including its pop songs, has affected the lifestyle of the people of Shenzhen and Guangdong. The Chinese Government believes that democracy in Hong Kong will affect the views of the people of China, especially of Guangdong Province, about their own system of government. What I have said on this subject cannot and has not changed China's basic position.
What troubles East Asia, including Singapore, is the danger of a clash between the US and China over Democracy and Human Rights. Any trial of strength between the two will damage economic growth in China and in East Asia, including Singapore. A clash and/or a trial of strength between the UK and China over Hong Kong will not cause the same damage. Therefore my concern was over a US-China clash.
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