Mr Hilton Cheong-Leen OBE Chairman
Hong Kong Civic Association PO Box 920
HONG KONG
233 4381
9 November 1979
Mr Blaker has asked me to thank you for your telegram of 30 October, suggesting that the Prime Minister should raise the questions of Chinese immigration into Hong Kong and the future status of Hong Kong during Premier Hua Guofeng's visit to London.
On the first point, the Prime Minister did indeed raise the issue with Premier Hua. As Mrs Thatcher reported in her statement to Parliament on 8 November, the Chinese Prime Minister gave assurances that immigration from China would be reduced.
As regards the future of Hong Kong, the Chinese Government have made it clear on more than one occasion that they believe it is still too soon to consider this in any detail. This was clearly implicit in the reply that the Chinese Foreign Minister gave to a question about Hong Kong's future that was raised during his press conference in London on 2 November, when he said:
"The Lease is due to expire in 1997. So there is still time. The basic attitude of the Chinese Government in this matter is that when the time comes for resolution we will take into consideration the interests of investors so that their interests will not be hurt. This came up in the talks yesterday and both sides agreed to keep in contact in this matter."
As this reply clearly shows, the Chinese authorities are aware of the need to reassure investors in Hong Kong that their interests will be fully taken into account when the time does come to consider Hong Kong's future. For the moment, the important thing is that Britain and China have a mutual interest in maintaining Hong Kong's current prosperity and stability.
WE Quantrill
Hong Kong and General Department
bcc Dr D C Wilson Political Adviser Hong Kong
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