PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
(cap passed to
BED) (32) W 29/3
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
Office
Hien
026/2
26 March 1982
Hver 026/3
1981
Dear Mr. Heath,
fan 24/3
Your Visit to the Far East':' The Future of Hong Kong
See (34
It was good of you to let us know that you are leaving
shortly on a trip to the Far East. Doubtless the subject of
Hong Kong's future will crop up, particularly in Hong Kong.
Given the highly sensitive and complex nature of this topic, I thought you might find it helpful to know where things
currently stand and the kind of line we are taking. The
department are of course sending you some more general
background.
When Humphrey Atkins was in Peking in January, he was generally encouraged to find that the Chinese were starting
to focus on the question of the future. They made it clear,
for example, that something had to be done before 1997 (when
the New Territories Lease is due to expire), that the
maintenance of investor confidence in Hong Kong is very
important, and that they wished to see Hong Kong continue as a major trade, business and financial centre. In case you did
not see a copy, I enclose the text of the Press Conference that
Humphrey Atkins gave in Hong Kong on 10 January.
We, for our part, are continuing to look closely at the whole question, particularly in view of the Prime Minister's
The Rt Hon Edward Heath MBE MP
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
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