TNAG-1245-FCO40-1559-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 28

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Shenzhen mission in UK: The SCMP reported on 23 May that a senior mission from Shenzhen SEZ had started an 11-day tour of the UK on that day, led by the Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen, Mr. Zhou Ding. There would be brief talks with the FCO and most of the time would be spent as guests of the North of England Development Council which had sponsored extensive links with the UK.

Letters: Y.S. Chan wrote to the SCMP on 21 May saying, re the 1997 question, the advice from Mr. T.L. Tsim was not only practical, but also timely keep on working and let the problem be handled by professionals.

UK press:

There was coverage in the UK press of BP being awarded the contract to drill for oil in the South China Sea and there were photographs in the Times and Daily Telegraph of the new Chinese Ambassador to London, Mr. Chen Zhaoyuan. On the HK dollar, the Financial Times said that while the territory's notoriously volatile exchange rate was some sort of an indicator for the territory's future, it seemed to be giving the thumbs down at this point. The HK Government had done nothing to stem the downward trend despite huge reserves. In the same paper, Robert Cottrell reported that the Governor may to to Beijing for talks in July after the NPC and the UK elections. This, said Cottrell, would give fresh impetus to the negotiations which to date had not appeared to be very productive. Cottrell also wrote about the Governor's television appearance and said his remarks were likely to reinforce local belief that Britain and China were drawing closer to substantive discussions on how the status of HK would be resolved when the lease expired; some analysts believed progress in the talks lay in defusing the symbolic importance of sovereignty, effectively by acknowledging an eventual reversion to China. There was also a report of Lord MacLehose's London speech in the paper. The FT carried a report saying the HK Government had been dropping tantalising hints to the foreign banking community that it might need to borrow next year to cover the budget deficit. There were also reports in the paper of Wheelock's profits fall and the visit of a Shenzhen delegation to the UK. The Guardian carried a report about Vietnamese refugees in Britain, pointing out that they had the highest rate of unemployment 83pc of any ethnic minority.

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OTHER ITEMS:

Oil Exploration: The consortium headed by British Petroleum, which has been awarded the right to drill for oil in the South China Sea, will set up headquarters in Guangzhou. About 800 rooms in the three most luxurious hotels in Guangzhou (Dungfong, Pakyuan and White Swan) have been allocated to the consortium as office accommodation and staff quarters. A firm has been set up in Guangzhou to provide services and staff for foreign staff and their families, such as cooks, domestic helpers, interpreters, electricians and chauffeurs. It will also help provide education for children of staff. In addition, 148 beds in four Guangzhou hospitals with helicopter landing facilities have been reserved for oil exploration staff and their families.

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