CONFIDENTIAL
2.
(a) Did the British Government recognise that Hong Kong was thecrux of Sino-British relations?
(6) Was the British Government prepared to reply to demands put forward by the Chinese Government on many occasions in the past to settle the Hong Kong problem?
(c)
Did the British Government have sincere desire to hold discussions on the restoration of normal Sino-British relations and on solving the Hong Kong problem?
8. In reply to (a) I repeated the opening sentences of our statement about the importance which we attached to the Hong Kong problem, but emphasized that we did not agree that other problems could not be discussed profitably in the meantime. On (b) I said that our statement had isolated most of the specific points raised by the Chinese. In answer to (c) I reminded Lo Kuei-po that Mr. Brown in his letter to Ch'en Yi had expressed our readiness to enter into discussions at any time.
I then asked whether the Chinese wanted a public answer to their so called demands or an answer in the same form as our present statement. Lo Kuei-po said the question of the form of our reply could be discussed. When I asked whether we could expect to hear more from the Chinese side Lo Kuei-pò replied that present discussions should be concluded at that point but that if the Chinese Government considered that further approaches were necessary these approaches would be made.
It was agreed mutually that these discussions should rel confidential.
9.
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Foreign Office pass to Hong Kong 219.
Sir D. Hopson
[Repeated as requested]
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CONFIDENTIAL
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