TNAG-1247-FCO40-1561-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 152

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as saying that Sir Edward and Sir Percy had briefed Exco about their meetings with the PM and had sought the Council's views. Sir Edward would leave for Beijing in the near future, Wah Kiu said.

The Express said it was necessary for the Governor and Sir Percy to seek the views of Exco after they had worked out strategy with senior British officials on how to play their cards at the negotiation table. An observer said any progress made in the resumed talks would probably be a breakthrough to clear all obstacles on the sovereignty issue. This would be handled solely by the FCO, while the subject of administration would involve the Governor's participation.

Editorially, Wah Kiu Yat Po said it was significant that Sir Percy should break his journey in HK to brief Exco. The paper linked it with speculation that the British Government had come up with a new tactic in the talks which made it necessary for Exco to be briefed It was a good omen for future Sino-British talks. Hong Kong Daily News said both Sir Edward and Sir Percy meant what they said when describing their discussions in London as very satisfactory and useful. It urged the Government, bankers and businessmen to continue to invest vigorously in order to boost confidence.

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CHINA MAY MAKE POLICY ANNOUNCEMENT:

On 11 March, the pro-Taiwan HK Times, in its front page lead, quoted unconfirmed reports saying China might make a unilateral policy announcement about HK's future in September because the Sino-British talks were not progressing smoothly. The reports, circulating within the higher echelons of the Chinese leadership, said Beijing would take a firmer stand and leaders of foreign affairs offices in Guangzhou and Shanghai had received instructions from the top to make early preparations for such an announcement.

The story did not spell out what the announcement would be, but quoted an unnamed China affairs expert saying that China might change its tactic or might even adopt intimidating measures. The report also quoted a GIS spokesman saying: "We have heard nothing of the sort.'

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The Oriental Daily News reported that according to "Can Kao Xiao Xi", a paper containing internal reference material on China, the Chinese Premier, Mr. Zhao Ziyang, had said the Chinese Government would fix a date to recover sovereignty over HK_if_Britain still insisted on the validity of the three treaties. The report said the document was seen by a HK resident recently returned from a visit to Fujian. The report was also in the SCMP..............

In the afternoon, the left-wing New Evening Post refuted all three reports as rumours which were not aimed at maintaining HK's prosperity and said it was clear who was engineering them.

The Oriental Daily News report was picked up by the HK Econoniic Journal the following day. It quoted a political analyst as saying that it was unlikely such confidential information would be contained in the internal document. In its editorial,

the paper said the petition outside Government House on 4 March and these reports would only complicate the issue. Hong Kong people were concerned about their future, but were not interested in politics.

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