CONFIDENTIAL
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Ta Kung Pao Weekly Supplement: The front-page lead in this week's issue was headlined: "Britain, France to help build Guangdong N-plant", but the text of the article hardly justified the headline, referring to British and French companies seeming to be best placed to take part. The article referred to Britain's hands being tied because approval had not been forthcoming from the US State Department for British firms to export nuclear reactor patents. The Supplement also had an item about the Chinese Ambassador to Britain, Mr. Ke Hua, returning home after completing his four-year term, but there was no mention of his next posting. A copy of an editorial comment in the Supplement, which continued the left-wing 'line' on HK people administering HK, is attached.
Letters: There were three letters about HK's future in the SCMP on Sunday: one from Eric Tang said we in HK, as a community, should be doing something more positive about our future and start working for the cause of HK right away; Albert Chen said no concrete and comprehensive proposal had been made on the direction in which HK's legal-judicial system should, could or might evolve as HK came under PRC sovereignty in increasing degrees; and A.E. Gazeley felt that HK people were placing too much importance on 1997, suggesting that, presently, 1983/84 was far more significant. Roderick Lane in the SCMP on 24 January said the solution to the 1997 problem was simple: Let Britain immediately make a pragmatic yet generous gesture and recognise China's unchallenged sovereignty, then Britain, HK and China should sit down together to renegotiate the lease. In this way, each party's interests were satisfied, everyone's face saved. HK's future was assured, worldwide confidence in our economy restored and the whole problem went away for another 100 years.
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BUSINESS ITEMS:
British Secretary for Industry, Mr. Patrick Jenkin, was quoted by AFP in a Beijing despatch of 17 January saying he believed preliminary agreement on foreign firms' participation in construction of a nuclear power station in southern China might be concluded very shortly.
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation opened its office in HK on 20 January. Its president, Mr. Qin Wencai, said HK would benefit from the South Sea oil exploration. Wen Wei Po and the Financial Daily said the oil project would ensure continued prosperity in HK. The latter urged the Government to play an active role in turning HK into a logistics base for the project.
The visiting managing director of Standard Chartered Bank in UK, Mr. P.A. Graham, said HK held tremendous business opportunties. The territory had a lot to contribute to China and the Asia-Pacific region, and there was no dispute on this point between both China and UK. He observed that there was no flight of capital out of HK and the present position was much better than in 1967 when overall deposits dropped drastically.
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