A E Donald Esq Political Adviser
Government Secretariat HONG KONG
CONFIDENTIAL
31 May 1977
28
HONG KONG'S FUTURE
Richard Samuel has shown me your letter of 28 April and his reply of 25 May.
1.
2. As you will have seen from Richard's letter, FED consulted us before deciding against pursuing the idea of having a word with George Gale. However, I think that your letter should have been addressed to me in the first instance, or at least that we should have been sent a copy. We would, of course, have consulted FED before commenting. More generally,
as you have a right to expect, there is a very close consultation between HKGD and FED on all Hong Kong matters that have a Chinese dimension. The fact is, however, that we in HKGD, with FED's concurrence, are the lead department on matters affecting the future of Hong Kong. It is we who have marked our files for a B.U. in the 1980s with a view to further consideration then being given to an approach to the Chinese about what is to happen before and after 1997 etc!
3. We in HKGD are perfectly happy with Richard Samuel's letter and, as I have said, our relations with FED are quite good enough to ensure that neither department makes a move on the Hong Kong/China front without consulting the other. For the future, however, I should be grateful if you would regard HKGD as the principal addressee for correspondence on the future of Hong Kong.
CONFIDENTIAL
JAB Stewart
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