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buch questions, says Huang:
"should be settled in an appropriate way when conditions are ripe".
8. Chinese delegates at international organisations have frequently re-iterated
the view adopted by Huang Hua in 1972. Delegates have on a number of occasions
asserted that Hong Kong is not a "colonial territory", neither is it a state or
a country, but at most should be described as a "territory" and "a part of China".
A recent example is the action taken by the Chinese representatives to ESCAP (at
which Hong Kong is also represented) in November 1978 to amend the description
"ESCAP countries" to "ESCAP members and associated members".
9.
Nevertheless, Chinese Ministers have also taken care to encourage British
confidence in the maintenance of the status quo in Hong Kong. During talks in
Peking with the Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home on 1 November 1972
Zhou Enlai said that China would not use force to take over Hong Kong, its
status was a matter that should be settled through negotiation and consultation
at some future date, but "there was no need to discuss this now". The following
year, the Chinese Foreign Minister, Ji Pengfei (Chi P'eng-fei) visited London.
During talks with Sir Alec Douglas-Home on 7 June he said "the status of Hong
Kong was not in question. That was a matter for the future". When former Prime
Minister, Mr Edward Heath paid a private visit to Peking in 1974, Vice-Premier
Deng Xiaoping (Teng Hsiao-p'ing) said at a banquet on 27 May that "there were
still issues between China and the UK which would be settled at an appropriate
time". This seemed a clear reference to the question of Hong Kong. In November
1977 during an interview with members of the Society for Anglo-Chinese
Understanding, Wang Bingnan (Wang Ping-nan), the resident of the Chinese
Association for the Fromotion of International Friendship, said:
...
"In principle, Hong Kong is part of China's territory When will we recover Hong Kong? It is a question for the future not for the present".
10. The Chinese Government's intention to postpone, at least for the moment,
questions on the status of Hong Kong was apparently confirmed by the Chinese
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