TNAG-1238-FCO40-1551-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 10

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Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.

If China resumes sovereignty she will certainly adopt measures which will guarantee Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

e. On 24 September a Xinhua news agency report on Mrs Thatcher's meeting with Deng Xiaoping said that the leaders of the two countries had agreed 'to enter into talks through diplomatic channels with the common aim of maintaining the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong' The report (which was published in the People's Daily of 25 September) added: 'The Chinese Government's stand on recovering sovereignty over the whole Hong Kong area is clear and known to all'.

f.

A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman on 30 September 1982 issued the following statement:

'Hong Kong is part of Chinese territory. The treaties concerning the Hong Kong area signed between the British Government and the Government of the Qing Dynasty of China in the past are unequal treaties which have never been accepted by the Chinese people. The consistent position of the Government of the People's Republic of China has been that China is not bound by these unequal treaties and that the whole Hong Kong area will be recovered when conditions are ripe. Both the Chinese and British sides hope to maintain the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and therefore will hold discussions through diplomatic channels.'

g. A Xinhua commentator article on the same day said that the Chinese people had never accepted the 'unequal treaties' signed between Britain and the Qing Dynasty and that to recover sovereignty over Hong Kong was the sacred responsibility' of the Chinese Government and people. After referring to Mrs Thatcher's statement on Britain's 'moral responsibility' towards the population of Hong Kong, the commentator added: 'We consider that Hong Kong is a major question concerning the State sovereignty and national interests of the one billion Chinese people (including the Chinese inhabitants of Hong Kong), and that only the Government of the Chinese People's Republic has the right to say that it has the responsibility of a sovereign country towards the Chinese inhabitants of Hong Kong.

October 1982

a. Zhao Ziyang told the Indian journalist G K Reddy on 2 October 1982 that the Chinese flag would fly over Hong Kong in 1997 that was non-negotiable - but China realised that the people of Hong Kong wished to preserve their own life-style and trade links and there would have to be consultation with them about how this was to be done. Zhao also referred to the need to protect the interests of British firms. Ji Pengfei told the journalist that the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao problems were closely connected and would be handled similarly.

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