WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 1984
GROUP LEAVES FOR PEKING
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DR DAVID WILSON AND THREE MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP SET UP TO CONSIDER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG LEFT FOR PEKING THIS (WEDNESDAY) AFTERNOON.
THE THREE MEMBERS ARE MR ROBIN MCLAREN, POLITICAL ADVISER, MR FRED BURROWS, LEGAL ADVISER, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS OFFICE, AND MR GERALD NAZARETH, LAW DRAFTSMAN.
FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT OF DR WILSON'S REMARKS TO REPORTERS AT KAI TAK AIRPORT:
+AS YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING UP TO PEKING THIS AFTERNOON. THERE ARE THREE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BRITISH TEAM GOING UP WITH ME - MR MCLAREN, MR NAZARETH AND MR BURROWS. WE'LL BE MET IN PEKING BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE BRITISH TEAM, MR EHRMAN. ALSO TAKING UP WITH US MR Y.P. CHENG AS INTERPRETER.
WE ARE
+1 AM VERY PLEASED TO HAVE THIS CHANCE TO BE BACK IN HONG KONG MYSELF FOR A FEW DAYS. IT'S BEEN VERY NICE TO RECOVER FROM JET LAG. IT ALSO GAVE ME A VERY GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO PEOPLE HERE. WE'VE HAD SOME VERY GOOD DISCUSSIONS WITH PEOPLE IN HONG KONG IN PREPARATION FOR OUR WORK IN PEKING, AND WE HAD SOME FURTHER DISCUSSIONS THIS MORNING IN THE SECRETARIAT WITH SENIOR OFFICIALS.
+I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING AMBASSADOR KE ZAISHUO IN PEKING. WE EXPECT TO START WORK TOMORROW. OUR TASK IS TO CONSIDER THE DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED BY BOTH SIDES IN THE NEGOTIATIONS.
+WE'LL BE WORKING FULL TIME BETWEEN THE ROUNDS OF THE MAIN NEGOTIATIONS, SO I EXPECT WE'RE GOING TO BE FAIRLY BUSY OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. I HOPE THAT THE WORKING TEAM WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORK OF THE MAIN NEGOTIATING TEAMS.
+1 SHOULD PERHAPS SAY PARTICULARLY HERE THAT THE WORKING GROUP IS VERY MUCH A BACK-ROOM ORGANISATION, SO I AM AFRAID THERE WON'T BE VERY MUCH TO SAY TO YOUR COLLEAGUES WHILE WE ARE UP IN PEKING.
+THE OVERALL CONDUCT OF THE NEGOTIATIONS REMAINS IN THE HANDS OF THE TWO CHAIRMEN OF THE DELEGATIONS — AMBASSADOR SIR RICHARD EVANS AND ASSISTANT FOREIGN MINISTER ZHOU NAN.
+IF THERE IS ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT THE CONDUCT OF THE MAIN NEGOTIATIONS, IT WILL BE OF COURSE FOR THEM TO SAY AFTER THE MAIN NEGOTIATING ROUNDS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.+
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J