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Speaking Notes (covering some of the detailed recommendations
of the Report
4. The first recommendation (that we should recognise that
Hong Kong's future lies in China and should work towards its return)
discards the possibility that we might return the leased area and
retain the ceded areas. It is barely conceivable (and highly
improbable) that China might agree to, perhaps even seek to
promote, such a solution. It is just conceivable that the ceded
areas might be economically viable on their own (although this
would be jeopardised by any large influx of "refugees" from the
leased area). But the ceded areas would make even less sense
in political terms than Hong Kong makes today, and this must be
a decisive consideration in our rejection of this solution.
5. It might be helpful to explain more fully what is involved
in the fourth recommendation. To show firmly that we intend to
maintain our position in the Colony is not only a question of
standing fast against Chinese pressures and of exerting counter-
pressure with the limited means at our disposal. It is also
a question of nurturing public confidence in our intention to
remain in the Colony. It is understandable in the circumstances
of Hong Kong that people should anxiously watch for any sign that
we might be preparing to pull out and conversely should greatly
value indications that we are deeply involved in the territory
and its problems. For these reasons we must try to avoid actions
that could be represented as showing indifference and a lack of
concern for Hong Kong's interests and her special problems.
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