XN000022-1984-10-03 — Page 2

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1984

HK GROUP RETURNS FROM PEKING

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THE HONG KONG DELEGATION TO THE CELEBRATIONS OF THE

35TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA RETURNED TODAY (WEDNESDAY) FROM PEKING.

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF A STATEMENT GIVEN BY THE LEADER OF THE DELEGATION, CHIEF SECRETARY SIR PHILIP HADDON-CAVE, AT THE AIRPORT:

+AS YOU KNOW, WE JUST SPENT FOUR DAYS IN PEKING AS GUESTS OF A VERY FULL THE HONG KONG AND MACAU OFFICE OF THE STATE COUNCIL. PROGRAMME HAD BEEN ARRANGED FOR US, AND WE WERE WARMLY AND GENEROUSLY RECEIVED AT ALL TIMES.

+THE PARADE ON MONDAY MORNING WAS MOST IMPRESSIVE AND THE FIREWORKS IN THE EVENING MOST SPECTACULAR. WE ALSO ATTENDED THE STATE BANQUET IN THE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE ON SUNDAY EVENING. WE LISTENED ATTENTIVELY AND WITH GREAT INTEREST TO PREMIER ZHAO'S SPEECH AT THE BANQUET ON SUNDAY EVENING AND TO CHAIRMAN DENG'S SPEECH AT THE PARADE ON MONDAY MORNING. AS WITH US, I AM SURE YOU WILL HAVE NOTED HOW BOTH SAW THE OUTCOME OF THE SINO-BRITISH NEGOTIATIONS AS A SIGNIFICANT EXAMPLE TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OF HOW DISPUTES BETWEEN NATIONS CAN BE SETTLED AND AGREED PEACEFULLY.

+THE HIGH POINT OF OUR VISIT, OF COURSE, WAS OUR MEETING WITH PREMIER ZHAO LAST EVENING WHICH LASTED, INCIDENTALLY, ONE HOUR AND FORTY MINUTES. AS REGARDS HONG KONG, PREMJER ZHAO TOOK UP THE THEME HE TOUCHED UPON IN HIS SPEECH AT THE BANQUET. INDEED, HE DESCRIBED THE CONCLUSION OF THE DRAFT AGREEMENT. THAT IS TO SAY, THE JOINT DECLARATION AND THE ANNEXES, AS A SIGNIFICANT EVENT IN MODERN WORLD HISTORY.

+ SHAN'T ATTEMPT TO RELAY OUR ENTIRE CONVERSATION TO YOU

BUT I THINK TWO POINTS STAND THIS MORNING OR EVEN SUMMARISE IT. OUT IN MY MIND.

+TO BEGIN WITH, PREMIER ZHAO WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS TO EMPHASISE THAT AFTER INVESTING TWO YEARS OF TIME AND EFFORT IN THE NEGOTIATIONS IN ORDER TO BRING THEM TO A MUTUALLY AGREED CONCLUSION, THERE COULD BE NO DOUBT THAT THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER OF THE AGREEMENT WOULD BE FAITHFULLY IMPLEMENTED. THERE IS NO POINT, HE SAID, IN BARGAINING SO HARD AND FOR SO LONG IF THERE WAS NO INTENTION TO OBSERVE THE TERMS OF THE OUTCOME, THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT. IN ANY CASE, HE WENT ON, CHINA'S NATIONAL INTERESTS WOULD BE BEST SERVED BY THE CONTINUING STABILITY AND PROSPERITY OF HONG KONG. THE TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT WILL BE FAITHFULLY IMPLEMENTED AND NO CHANGES WILL BE PROPOSED. TO THIS THEME, PREMIER ZHAO KEPT RETURNING TIME AND TIME AGAIN. INDEED HE SPOKE OF HONG KONG'S FUTURE AS AN AUTONOMOUS SAR WITH GREAT CONVICTION AND BELIEVE WITH GREAT SINCERITY. HE DECLARED, IN FACT, THAT THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP BELIEVED THAT THE AGREEMENT WOULD STAND THE TEST OF TIME AND HISTORY.

/+THE SECOND ...............