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CONFIDENTIAL
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Mr Church (News Department)
CHINESE 1OLICY TOWARDS HONG KONG
31
1.
FED have agreed to the amendment suggested by Mr Youde in his letter of 28 September.
2.
The line to be adopted in future off-the-record briefings is therefore as follows:
"Democratisation means elections.
An elected
legislature means (and has to mean if it is to have any reality) a transfer of power to a local Government. This is a step towards internal self-government and independence.
The Chinese
Government have made it very clear both in the UN Community"of XXIV and in private exchanges with us that they regard Hong Kong as Chinese territory, and it is apparent that they would not tolerate any steps towards Hong Kong's independence. They are content with the status quo. This is the difficulty. It is well under- stood in Hong Kong.
+3
14 October 1974
cc Mr March,FED
B II Dinwiddy
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department.
CONFIDENTIAL
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