TNAG-1246-FCO40-1560-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 127

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Another vote of confidence: At the topping-out ceremony of the Beijing-funded China Resources Building in Wan Chai, general manager Mr. Zhang Jianhua said the

$400 million investment in the 50-storey building was a vote of confidence in HK's prosperity. Its contractor, Mr. Gordon Wu, of Hopewell Holdings, said the building was a symbol of China's investment in HK and Beijing's faith in the territory's future.

Sir S.Y. Chung sees Mrs. Thatcher: The papers widely reported in news coverage that the senior Unofficial Member of Exco, Sir S.Y. Chung, had discussed the future of HK with Mrs. Thatcher in London recently, but, the SCMP said, he would give no details. He had also met Foreign Office Minister Lord Belstead. In a statement, Sir S.Y. said he was glad and honoured to exchange views on a range of topics, including of course Hong Kong. The contents of the discussions should, however, for reasons which he was sure would be understood, remain confidential.

HE off to London: Between These Columns in the SCMP of 1 January said that the Governor, Sir Edward Youde, was expected to visit London early in the new year for routine talks at the ECO and with the PM. The talks on the future would be one of the

subjects for discussion, but it was not known how soon after his London visit HE would take part in the talks; informed sources, however, expected this would follow the Lunar New Year. So far in Beijing two sessions had been held; the tempo would increase, but no one was predicting a speedy conclusion and speculation was that the talks would continue for several months.

Letters: A letter in the Standard of 29 December said that, as far as sovereignty of HK was concerned, one could not dispute that this was already established in 1972 when the Chinese delegate at the UN pointed out that his Government did not recognise any unequal treaties or leases which had been forced on his country in the past; hence, HK and Macau were taken off the list of colonies.

Macau Governor interviewed: The Governor of Macau said in an interview that

any change in HK's status might lead to some modifications in that of Macau in form but not in essence. Details of the interview were published in the SCMP and Standard of 29 December. The Governor said there was a legal difference between the positions of Macau and HK: HK was a colony, with all the consequences attached to this in the political and economic fields, whereas Macau was a territory under Portuguese administration. But from a practical point of view HK and Macau were closely tied and if there were changes in the status of one changes were likely for the other. While the possibility of a different role for Macau could not be ruled out there was at present no reason to believe that China wanted to alter the status quo. (Last week's summary included an item which said an original report of the interview had been wrongly translated and, because of the concern caused, a "correct" version had later been issued).

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