TNAG-0851-FCO40-1061-Future-of-Hong-Kong-New-Territories-leases-1979 — Page 137

OPS 23CA

CONFIDENTIAL

F1 FCO 25170OZ OCT 1979

TO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG

TELEGRAM NUMBER 871 OF 25 OCTOBER

INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING

CONFIDENTIALol,

DESK INDEX

2.9 OCT 1979

13.

تحييه

FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW.

مل

30.10

Sex 245

246

258

1. REUTERS TODAY CARRY AN ITEM FROM HONG KONG ABOUT AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE EDITOR OF THE FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW URGING THE PRIME MINISTER TO RAISE THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG WITH PREMIER HUA GUOFENG. THE LETTER IS APPARENTLY DUE TO APPEAR IN TOMORROW'S EDITION OF THE REVIEW. IF QUESTIONED, ABOUT THIS, NEWS DEPARTMENT WILL TAKE THE FOLLOWING LINE:

QUOTE HONG KONG ISSUES WILL CERTAINLY BE DISCUSSED DURING PREMIER HUA'S VISIT. AS IS NORMAL WITH SUCH EXCHANGES THE CONTENT OF THE DISCUSSIONS WILL BE CONFIDENTIAL. HOWEVER, IT IS TOO EARLY TO SOLVE FROBLEMS RELATING TO THE LONG-TERM FUTURE OF HONG KONG. THE IMPORTANT POINT AT PRESENT IS THAT BRITAIN AND CHINA HAVE A MUTUAL INTEREST IN HONG KONG'S PROSPERITY AND STABILITY. UNQUOTE.

2.

IF ASKED WHETHER UNCERTAINTY ADOUT HONG KONG'S FUTURE IS AFFECT- ING ITS ECONOMY AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT, NEWS DEPARTMENT WILL SAY: QUOTE IT IS CLEAR THAT MOST INVESTORS TAKE A POSITIVE VIEW OF PROSPECTS IN HONG KONG. THEY WILL HAVE TAKEN NOTE OF PREMIER HUA GUOFENG'S REMARKS ABOUT HONG KONG AT HIS RECENT PRESS CONFERENCE. WE ARE UNAWARE OF ANY PARTICULAR PROJECTS WHICH ARE BLOCKED BECAUSE OF DOUBTS ABOUT THE LONG-TERM FUTURE.

UNQUOTE.

CARRINGTON

FILES

HK & GD

FED

NEWS DEPT PS/MR BLAKER MR CORTAZZI MR MURRAY

CONFIDENTIAL