CONFIDENTIAL
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regretfully, it was impossible in protocol terms for the toast to be to anyone in addition to The Queen. At this stage exchanges were being conducted by telephone and Tan Kan was coming back with a new line ten minutes later. We finally settled for "The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China" and "Chairman Yeh" as glasses were raised. At one point I said, somewhat disingenuously, that the Governor would have been delighted to be able to toast Chairman Hua. I was tempted to add that all NCNA needed to do was to arrange for Hua to become Head of State within the next 24 hours.
4.
One final cause for concern was that Typhoon Lola was in the offing. However, she must have been a Chinese typhoon since she went straight to Vietnam, though the number 3 signal was up all day on the 30th.
5.
David
The reception went off with no problems apart from the traffic jam which made a few guests late. Wilson, Sue and I arrived with only 8 minutes or so to spare: Sue was greatly tickled by the red carpet at the entrance which was being given a final hoovering. Although the reception was crowded, David was told by a member of NCNA that fewer guests had been invited than last year in order to avoid too much of a crush. The Governor and Wang made their way slowly to the podium through a sea of flashing cameras.
6.
One point of detail which we had (tactfully?) avoided raising in our discussions with NCNA was what liquid would be used for the toasts. Sir John Curle was understandably concerned that we might have sickly Chinese champagne or maotai. In fact the protagonists were offered a tray with only orange squash on it just before the toasts. So officially this step forward in UK-HK-China relations was taken entirely soberly. (Wang does not in any case drink alcohol.) Whisky (Scotch, not the weird Chinese
imitation) etc. was fortunately available for the guests.
7.
Not a hitch with the toasts. The Governor had the harder task and his timing was superb: just the suspicion of a pause half way through to add an extra touch of drama to the occasion. It was surprising to discover how many of the guests were surprised at the toast to Yeh, and I overheard one or two of our NCNA contacts explaining how correct this was in protocol terms. The NCNA account of the reception (attached) did not, however, give details of the toasts. Other press coverage was straight forward with virtually no speculation on the status of NCNA in Hong Kong.
It was reassuring to find that most of the Consular Corps saw more significance in The Queen being toasted on territory claimed by China than in the degree of "face" given to NCNA. The
/contd.
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