CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
нич
RECEIVE
026/2
19 OCT 1993
ра
7/10.
82
133032
MDHIAN 8272
FM HONG KONG
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 1582
DES
INDE/
OF 070923Z OCTOBER 93
TOP COPY Q DIST?/
MINISTER OF STATE'S VISIT TO HONG KONG: REACTIONS TO MY POLICY
ADDRESS
SUMMARY
1.
The public has responded enthusiastically to my Policy Address. The community has recognised that it contains imaginative proposals to deal with many aspects of Life which recent polls had begun to show were of growing concern. On the political front, my Address has reinvigorated the debate about constitutional reform. Whilst the UDHK and Meeting Point have attacked the compromise proposals we have put to the CPG, this was to be expected and represents the range of views in the community. The Liberal Party and the DAB will have to struggle to present me as unreasonable. So far, they have had to confine their remarks to unconvincing suggestions that there is much more time in which to negotiate with the CPG.
INITIAL PUBLIC REACTION
2.
A
The initial reactions to the Address have been positive. major poll conducted the same evening for TVB showed that 72 percent of respondents were satisfied with the Address. My own approval rating has risen back to over 60 percent. The first editorials, including those in Hong Kong's largest circulation paper (the Oriental Daily) and the three most influential (Economic Journal, Ming Pao and SCMP) found much to be positive about.
3.
The reactions to my position on constitutional reform were also positive. In the TVB poll, 68 percent of respondents supported my position. Only 19 percent were against. Both the Oriental Daily and the Economic Journal were particularly supportive of the balance we have struck so far in pursuing our objectives.
THE POLITICAL PARTIES