TNAG-1241-FCO40-1554-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 51

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FROM R D CLIFT, HKD DATE: 28 JULY 1983

see her a Group if the

HM. Oming us hoir.

MISS CLARE HOLLINGWORTH HONG KONG

1.

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→ Mr. Hoare

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Rose

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visit

WICHARD LUCĄ Miss Bailey's minute of 28 July and our telephone conversation. I did not hear Miss Hollingworth's talk at the Foreign Affairs forum but I did attend a meeting at Chatham House at which I imagine she gave much the same address. Her line was as follows:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

2.

China could take over Hong Kong at any time; they may even be making contingency plans for this (a recent power blackout in Wanchai could have been a dress rehearsal);

Opinion in Hong Kong: A wide body in Hong Kong believes that the Prime Minister made a mess of her visit to China last September;

Whether justified or not, there is much criticism of the present Governor; people believe that Lord MacLehose could

have done better;

There is growing anti-British and anti-colonial feeling in the Territory;

Although most people in Hong Kong accept that sovereignty must go to China, they are very unhappy about the Chinese proposals; the young professionals have been the only people prepared to speak up so far;

ризганик

Despite their economic advantages from Hong Kong, the Chinese put politics first; one senior Chinese contact told her that they would rather take over a ''desert'' than fail to recover sovereignty.

Miss Hollingworth's technique was to report what she had been told by people in Hong Kong. She did not offer any suggestions for solutions. Her line puts much stress on dissatisfaction with the present administration in Hong Kong. I think that some of the points she made, although muddled, did reflect views expressed to her, for instance by colleagues at the university. It is of course well known that there is criticism of the present administration, mainly on the grounds that not enough is being said about the talks. Apart from this I do not think that Miss Hollingworth's talk added much to our knowledge of opinion. She is a good reporting journalist, primarily a war correspondent, but I doubt whether she has really been able to do a very thorough survey of grass roots opinion.

13. FKKO40|1.

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