TNAG-1247-FCO40-1561-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 113

CONFIDENTIAL

8

AFP reported from Taipei that Mr. Hu had instructed senior party cadres to refrain from making casual comments on the future of HK. The Agency, quoting a traveller who had recently returned to HK from Beijing, said Mr. Hu was particularly unhappy with Mr. Liao Chengzhi, who "had talked too much and made too many errors" on the subject. The traveller had learned about the reprimand given to Mr. Liao from friends and relatives working in the government departments concerned. Mr. Liao had been ordered to receive criticism and a review of his statements on the HK issue; other cadres had been instructed to stop making speculative remarks contrary to Party guidelines.

8.

MORE REPORTS ON KE HUA:

There has been sustained press interest in Mr. Ke Hua, the outgoing Chinese Ambassador in London, who had been tipped to succeed Mr. Wang Kuang as first director of the HK Branch Office of Xinhua. The Oriental Daily News quoted its London correspondent saying Mr. Ke had postponed his departure because it would not be appropriate for him to leave without saying farewell in person to the Queen, who was now on an official visit to the Carribean. In another report, HK Economic Journal said the post of HK bureau chief was normally held by officials who had previously worked in Guangdong. It would be unorthodox to post Mr. Ke here as he had never worked in the province. On 21 February, the Financial Daily said Mr. Ke was not coming to HK. He was expected to succeed Mr. Zhang Wenjin as head of the West European Affairs Department and to become the chief Chinese negotiator in the Sino-British talks. Quoting sources close to the Chinese Government, the paper said the current bureau chief, Mr. Wang Kuang, told several elderly leaders, including Marshal Ye, recently in Guangzhou that he was reluctant to leave HK. He had now been allowed to stay on. The paper speculated the talks would resume when Mr. Ke returned

to China. The paper speculated in its leader that ex-Foreign Ministers, Mr. Qiao Quanhua, and Mr. Huang Hua would also play an advisory role in the talks. The paper envisaged that the two sides would be able to work out a satisfactory arrangement if both China and Britain gave more room for their negotiators to manoeuvre.

9.

MEETING POINT:

The Standard reported that the recently formed pressure group, Meeting Point, was to adopt a new strategy for pushing social reforms, after being labelled pro-Beijing. Group members denied Beijing connections and said they would now stress on social and political problems rather than the 1997 issue. The Standard said the group's opinion paper agreed HK was part of China and there should be self-rule for local Chinese under China's sovereignty. The vice-chairman of the group, Mr. Yeung Sum, said no one really knew what exactly would happen in 1997, “but we are here to stay and we should face up to all the problems confronting us now." He believed the aspirations of this generation were not going to be met by the existing system and the group was seeking to open a dialogue with the Government. It understood that British interests here should also be recognised. The British had to leave some time and the group had prepared for it. More local people should be trained for the post-1997 era and the whole system should also be reformed for it. Mr. Yeung later told the SCMP that the PM did not seem to understand the thinking of Chinese officials on 1997: they were concerned with the unification of China, particularly with Taiwan but also with HK. The group believed, once understood, this could be used to help HK and the 1997 negotiations rather than being an obstacle.

CONFIDENTIAL