TNAG-1233-FCO40-1546-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 15

布政司署

CONFIDENTIAL

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD HONG KONG

香港下亞畢道

本署檔號 OUR REF.:

RPM:pr

SCR 5/3571/81

來函檔號 Your Ref.:

Mr. Ma

5-95345

15 January 1983

56)

HICK 040/1

CEIVED H

R.J.F.Hoate, Esq2,1 JAN 1983

HKGD, FCO

DESK OFFICE

INDEX

PA

Dear Rechart,

leg: Because of x1 Please copy

REGIS

Marion T

1AF 26/1

irwalker, RD of Matin Ass. Stuff, Cab. Off

+

for

ther p.c.

X

•

Liao Chengzhi's discussion with Hong Kong Factory Owners Association

211

1982

1076 HITKOHOLi

Thank you for your letter HKK040/1 of 30 December.

I enclose a copy of the article from the Ta Kung Pao weekly supplement, with apologies for omitting to do so earlier.

2. You mentioned in your letter some further discrepancies between what Liao Chengzhi told the delegation and Huang Jian's remarks to the press. My only comment would be that Huang Jian appears to be a rather foolish person, and there is some evidence to suggest that NCNA and possibly the Chinese leadership may regret having invited Huang Jian to Peking.

3.

There is also some evidence to suggest that the invitation to the Factory Owners Association may have been a simple mistake on NCNA's part, since they may have confused the Factory Owners with the much more prestigeous and long standing Chinese Manufacturers Association. The Chinese titles of the two organisations are very similar. Indeed, there were reports that the CMA were contemplating suing the Factory Owners Association on the grounds that the two titles were too similar. One of the communist newspapers mistakenly referred to the Factory Owners as the Chinese Manufacturers Association and had to publish a correction.

abeady capred.

GOOD HIKO40/1 1982

4. I am afraid that my letter of 4 December was misleading. The transcript enclosed with that letter turns out to have been a transcript of a tape-recording made by one of the delegation members immediately after the conversation with Liao Chengzhi. Thus this document, although reasonably accurate and fresh, and consistent with the account given by

CONFIDENTIAL

/Frank Pong,

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