TNAG-0937-FCO40-1156-Visits-of-Sir-Murray-MacLehose--Governor-of-Hong-Kong--to-th-1980 — Page 95

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RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 5】

16 JUL 1980

DESK OFFICER INDEX

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REGISTRY

Adlon Take

MR BLAKER'S MEETING WITH SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE: 14' JULY 1980

FUTURE OF HONG KONG AND LEASES IN THE NEW TERRITORIES

1. I hope that there will be time for Mr Blaker to raise this

subject with the Governor after they have dealt with illegal

immigration, on which I am providing a separate brief. It would

be helpful to get the Governor's views before we make a definitive

submission on the line for the Secretary of State to take during his

visit to China in October.

2. I attach Points to Make and Essential Facts summarising

developments over the past 14 months and concluding with Vice

Premier Gu Mu's statement to Sir Philip Haddon-Cave in May that it

was high time to find a solution to the problem of the status of

Hong Kong after 1997.

3. The Governor and the Ambassador have been discussing next

steps. The main papers are Peking telegram No 62, Hong Kong

telegram No 150 and Peking telegram No 69. They agree on the need

to avoid another rebuff from Peking. Both accept, however, that

it will be necessary for the Secretary of State to raise the

problem when he visits China in early October. There is some

difference between them on the extent to which we can usefully

link the immediate problem of business confidence and of land

leases in the New Territories with the long-term issue of the

ultimate status of Hong Kong. The Ambassador believes that the

Chinese are themselves preparing to work towards a 'solution'

of the main question. The Governor does not altogether dissent

/but

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