TNAG-1247-FCO40-1561-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 7

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HONG KONG

FOLLOWING IS TEXT FROM TODAY'S NEWSWEEK,

INDEX

A HONG KONG DEADLINE

REGISTRY

PA

Action Taken

CHINA HAS ALREADY SERVED NOTICE THAT IT INTENDS TO CLAIM SOVEREIGNTY OVER HONG KONG AFTER BRITAIN'S 99-YEAR LEASE EXPIRES IN 1997, BUT THE MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR BRITAIN'S PROSPEROUS CROWN COLONY COULD COME EVEN SOONER. NEWSWEEK HAS LEARNED THAT WHEN BRITISH PRIME MINISTER MARGARET THATCHER VISITED PEKING LAST SEPTEMBER, CHINESE LEADER DENG XIAOPING THREATENED TO IMPOSE A DEADLINE OF HIS OWN IF NEGOTIATIONS WITH LONDON OVER HONG KONG'S FUTURE STATUS DID NOT PROCEED TO HIS SATISFACTION. *'IF BRITAIN AND CHINA DO NOT REACH AGREEMENT BY THE END OF 1984''. DENG WARNED THATCHER DURING AN ACRIMONIOUS PRIVATE MEETING, ''CHINA

WILL ANNOUNCE ITS OWN SOLUTION.

THE CONVERSATION WITH THATCHER WAS DESCRIBED BY COMMUNIST PARTY GENERAL SECRETARY HU YAOBANG DURING A RARE TWO-HOUR INTERVIEW IN PEKING WITH PARRIS CHANG, A CHINA SCHOLAR AT PENN STATE UNIVERSITY. DENG'S TOUGH TALK MAY HAVE BEEN PARTLY BLUFF. BUT HONG KONG'S 5.5 MILLION RESIDENTS MOST OF WHOM DREAD THE PROSPECT OF COMMUNIST RULE- ARE JITTERY ABOUT THE OUTCOME OF THE NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN BRITAIN AND CHINA.

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SPECIAL

IN LONDON, THATCHER'S AIDES WOULD NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY THAT DENG HAD THREATENED TO IMPOSE A 1984 DEADLINE. THE CONDITIONS GOVERNING TALKS BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES SAY THAT THEIR CONTENT MUST REMAIN CONFIDENTIAL," SAID A SPOKESMAN AT 10 DOWNING STREET. HU DID NOT SAY WHETHER PEKING HAS ALREADY DECIDED ON ITS UNILATERAL ''SOLUTION** FOR HONG KONG. HOWEVER, THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAS PREVIOUSLY PROPOSED THAT BRITAIN'S CROWN COLONY BECOME A ADMINISTRATIVE REGION' AFTER 1997. UNDER THAT PLA, HONG KONG WOULD DE PART OF CHINA BUT WOULD HAVE SOME AUTONOMY FROM PEKING. 'YACHT PEOPLE': CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY OVER HONG KONG IS PROBABLY INEVITABLE, BUT LONDON STILL HOPES THAT PEKING WILL ALLOW HONG KONG CHINESE · AND PERHAPS BRITISH CIVIL SERVANTS TO CONTINUE RUNNING THE COLONY FOR AN INTERIM PERIOD AFTER 1997. IF PEKING REJECTS THAT IDEA, HONG KONG'S BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL LEADERS COULD START AN EXODUS **YACHT PEOPLE, AS ONE LOCAL JOKE HAS IT · THAT WOULD LEAVE HONG KONG'S THRIVING ECONOMY IN A SHAMBLES.

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