TNAG-1243-FCO40-1557-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 60

CONFIDENTIAL #

機密

22 NOV 1983

COPIED FROM SPECIAL BRANCH CHINA SITREP

11-

QI Huaiyuan States China's Policy Regarding Hong Kong

Beijing Xinhua in English 9th November

39.

QI Huaiyuan, Director of the Information Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, disclosed here at the weekly news briefing this afternoon that China will announce te policies and guidelines on Hong Kong no later than next September.

40. When asked if China is going to change its position regarding

a deadline for Sino-British talks on the question of Hong Kong, QI sai d

China's position has not changed at all.

"We hope than an agreement

can be reached with Britain before that", he said. "If no agreement

is reached by then, China will announce its own policies and guidelines

unilaterally".

Comment: 1) A group of New Territories residents, led by HUANG

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Liguan (c. WONG Lap-kwong), returned to Hong Kong from

a visit to Beijing on 17th November. They reported to Hong Kong journalists at their Beijing hotel on 15th November that State Councillor JI Pengfei, who is Director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Offices had given them several assurances on the territory's post- 1997 future. These assurances were

a) Hong Kong's systems will remain basically unchanged

for 50 years after 1997;

b) No cadres will be sent from the interior and there

will be no interference in Hong Kong's internal affairs;

c) Unter the broad principle of 'Hong Kong people ruling

Hong Kong' there would be freedoms of speech, publication and assembly and the rights to form societies and to leave and re-enter the territory; and

1) The above guarantees would be written in to a "mini- constitution" for Hong Kong, which would be included as an Appendix to Article 31 of China's own Constitution. This would have to be approved by the National Feople's Congress, but the people of Hong Kong would be consulted before it became law. (Article 31 of the Constitution refers to the establishment of "Special Administrative Regions", e.g. Taiwan).

2) JI Pengfei's meeting with "a travel group of personalities from the New Territories of Hong Kong" was reported by Xinhua, but not the ute me of the meeting.

3) Wen Wei Fo of 17th November reported that JI's deputy,

LI He, told the visitors that he would be visiting Hong Kong "soon".

CONFIDENTIAL

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