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4.
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2.
third pro-Communist paper, the Jing Bao, which we believe to be broadly under NCNA's editorial control but which is even loss official than the other two, went slightly further. In an editorial it said that most people believed that what happened to Hong Kong after the year 2000 would depend on the political and economic situation in China as well as that of the world. At present Hong Kong was "not without benefit to China" as a port, a
a port, a source of advanced technology' and a bridge for solving the Taiwan question. The editorial then concluded on a cautiously optimistic note about the long term future by saying that nobody could fore- cast whether Peking and Taiwan would "join hands" in 20 years' time and that: "So long as the Taiwan issue remains unsettied, there is not likely to be any change in Hong Kong's status.'
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5.
We have no evidence as yet cf what editorial guidance was given to the Communist press on how to react to Hua's statement. The way in which the three papers treated the news suggests general guidance about "cautious optimism" plus the avoidance of anything specific, particularly in the more official papers. Such a reaction could well have been a local decision rather than instructions from Peking.
6.
Finally, and for the record, I am enclosing the text of Hua's remarks on Hong Kong as they appeared in the English language version of the Da Gong Bao. As a footnote, you might be interested to know that the Chinese version of the same paper has shi hao de ("are good") as a description of Chinese relations with Britain and Hong Kong in place of the rather grudging "are quite good" of the English text.
cc
(DC Wilson)
RJT McLaren Esq
Hong Kong & General Dept
TJ B George Esq
PEKING
PJ Weston Esq
WASHINGTON
Research Dept
(Far Eastern Section)
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