22 December 1993
Mr R Peirce
Political Adviser
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CamSOVE TA
HKD 021
73
REC
6 JAN 1994
INUL
Office of the
British Senior Representative
Sino-British Joint Liaison Group
St John's Building, 3rd Floor 33 Garden Road
Hong Kong
Telephone: (852) 868 2171/2416/2435 Facsimile: (852) 868 2431
58
Jear Bob,
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AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN HONG KONG
I was recently entertained to lunch by AmCham's Government Relations Committee. Their main message was that the American Chamber wanted to be as helpful as possible in support of the work of the JLG in ensuring that Hong Kong's way of life, and notably its legal system and immigration arrangements, should survive the 1997 transition. As you will know, they are regular visitors to Peking and are regularly received by Lu Ping. They admit to believing privately that their real role is probably less influential than either the Chinese believe it to be in relation to Washington, or the American Administration may believe it to be in relation to Peking. But they are not averse to having their role overestimated and, while not themselves overestimating their punching power, they like to think that they can be helpful. They have drawn up a list of 47 points which they think are of vital importance to Hong Kong's continuing attraction to the international business community. They have passed these points to Lu Ping and will continue to emphasise their importance to each and every Chinese official they meet. I enclose a copy. I apologise if you already have this but I suspect that some copy addressees probably do not.
It occurs to me to wonder whether the British Chamber of Commerce has any similar list. I am aware of the fact that, during their annual visits to Peking in September, the British Chamber do make very similar points, but perhaps not in so structured a fashion. Francis Cornish may wish to draw this list to the British Chamber's attention (though I recognise that this may not be the best time; many of its members may prefer to keep their heads down until current threats against British business blow over).
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