XN000022-1984-07-13 — Page 2

SIR GEOFFREY TO VISIT

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FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1984

THE FOLLOWING WAS

OFFICE TODAY (13 JULY,

ISSUED BY THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH 1984):

+SIR GEOFFREY HOWE WILL VISIT PEKING BETWEEN 27 AND 31 JULY AT THE INVITATION OF MR WU XUEQIAN, STATE COUNCILLOR AND FOREIGN MINISTER. HE WILL CONTINUE HIS SERIES OF DISCUSSIONS WITH MR WU AND OTHER CHINESE LEADERS ON ALL ASPECTS OF HONG KONG'S FUTURE AS WELL AS OTHER INTERNATIONAL AND BILATERAL ISSUES.

SIR GEOFFREY HOWE WILL VISIT HONG KONG ON HIS WAY TO AND FROM PEKING. THIS WILL GIVE HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN TO THE VIEWS OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG. HE WILL MEET THE GOVERNOR AND MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS, AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVES OF THE HONG KONG COMMUNITY.+

A HONG KONG GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN STATED THAT SIR GEOFFREY HOWE WILL ARRIVE IN HONG KONG ON 26 JULY AND LEAVE HONG KONG FOR PEKING ON 27 JULY. HE WILL ARRIVE BACK IN HONG KONG FROM PEKING ON 31 JULY AND LEAVE FOR LONDON ON 1 AUGUST.

MR LUCE CONFIDENT OF SATISFACTORY AGREEMENT

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MR RICHARD LUCE SAID AFTER MEETING WITH THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL TODAY THAT HE WAS CONFIDENT A SATISFACTORY AGREEMENT ON HONG KONG'S FUTURE WOULD BE REACHED,

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF HIS REMARKS:

+CAN SAY THAT WE HAVE AS YOU KNOW HAD A MEETING UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE GOVERNOR THIS MORNING OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO YOU THAT THE MEETING FROM MY POINT OF VIEW HAS BEEN VALUABLE, HAS BEEN COMPREHENSIVE, AND IT HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL, I REGARD THOSE DISCUSSIONS AS HAVING BEEN MOST USEFUL THIS MORNING.

+WE HAVE REVIEWED THE PROGRESS OF THE TALKS WHICH HAVE BEEN GOING ON IN PEKING, WHICH ARE, AS YOU KNOW, AS I SAID LAST NIGHT, MOVING AHEAD STEADILY.

+FROM ALL THIS I AM MOST ENCOURAGED BY THESE DEVELOPMENTS. I REMAIN CONFIDENT THAT WE WILL REACH A SATISFACTORY AGREEMENT ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG.+

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