CONFIDENTIAL
5
we had had a great crisis of confidence during 1982 of a political nature, but he worried that the people or the Government had not learned; Dr. Joseph Cheng (CU) said a Sino- British agreement on HK might be reached during this year; he hoped for agreement before the announcement of a general election in 1984, but the HK people had no control over this; a number of papers including the left-wing press, carried the comments of R.C. Lee which just appeared in the Asian Wall Street Journal.
3.
US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REPORT:
The media reported prominently an AP despatch of 31 December which said a report prepared for the US House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee said Britain and China would soon reach an accord on the future of HK. Word of the impending agreement was attributed to the US Consul-General in HK, Mr. Burton Levin. The paper described the agreement as a mutually satisfactory accommodation, but gave no details. The committee was advised to study the situation because of its impact on immigration to the US if HK reverted to China. A HK Government spokesman described the report as "speculative" and said there was no timetable for the talks; the aim was to complete them as soon as possible.
4.
KE HUA TO ARRIVE SOON? :
Quoting unnamed sources, the HK Daily News ran a story on 1 January that the Chinese Ambassador in London, Mr. Ke Hua, would arrive in HK in the next few days to take up the post of first director of the HK Branch of Xinhua News Agency from Mr. Wang Kuang, who was now not in town. The paper viewed the changeover as upgrading of the post since Mr. Ke's rank was equivalent to a minister, while that of Mr. Wang was vice-minister. The departure of second director, Mr. Li Jusang, was also imminent, the paper reported. In its editorial, the paper speculated that the posting of Mr. Ke to HK was to facilitate talks on HK's future, which probably might be conducted here with the Governor. Sir Edward Youde and Mr. Ke were equivalent in ranking and they knew each other very well. The paper said if talks were held here between the two an early satisfactory settlement was expected. The paper urged both the British and Chinese Governments to consider including in the agenda of the secret talks those views and written statements which could represent local opinion if no HK representatives were allowed to take part. Following up the story, Oriental Daily News on 3 January said rather that Mr. Ke had returned to London after consultation in Beijing and there were no firm indications that he would take over. The paper said speculation on the changeover stemmed from the fact that the terms of both Mr. Ke and Mr. Wang were due to expire soon. The HK Times and the Kung Sheung wondered whether Mr. Wang's recall was because the Beijing authorities were not happy with remarks HE made on HK's future.
5.
HEUNG YEE KUK MEMBERS TO VISIT BEIJING:
It has been confirmed that a 15-member Heung Yee Kuk delegation will leave for Beijing on 10 January and return about the 19th. The HK Daily News said the delegation had been invited by the Beijing authorities and quoted a spokesman for the delegation saying
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