TNAG-1248-FCO40-1562-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 140

GR 2200

UNCLASSIFIED

FM HONG KONG 071025Z JUL 83

TO IMMEDIATE PEKING

MKK040/2

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51

- 8 JUL 1983

TELEGRAM NUMBER 335 OF 7 JULY

DESK OFF

INDEX

PA

Action Taken

INFO IMMEDIATE FCO

и

113

COP COPY

GOVERNOR'S PRESS CONFERENCE.

FOLLOWING IS TRANSCRIPT OF MY PRESS CONFERENCE AT KAI TAK THIS MORNING:

H.E.: GOOD MORNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I THINK YOU ALL KNOW THE MAIN LINES OF WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING AND FOR THOSE WHO DON'T PERHAPS I SHOULD RECAP THAT WE HAVE JUST SPEND A FEW DAYS IN LONDON. I WENT A DAY EARLY IN ORDER TO SEE MINISTERS AND I SAW THE FOREIGN SECRETARY AND MR LUCE ON FRIDAY: THEN MY UNOFFICIAL COLLEAGUES CAME AND WE SPENT SOME TIME OVER THE WEEKEND IN PREPARATION FOR MEETINGS WHICH WE ALL HAD WITH THE FOREIGN SECRETARY AND WITH THE PRIME MINISTER ON MONDAY.

THEN ON TUESDAY, WE HAD SOME QUITE LONG DISCUSSIONS WITH MR LUCE AFTER LUNCH, AND IN THE EVENING WE GAVE A RECEPTION ON WHICH I AND THE UNOFFICIALS WERE ABLE TO MEET QUITE A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, QUITE A NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT CAME ALONG AND MEMBERS OF THE HONG KONG ASSOCIATION, AND OTHER MINISTERS AND FORMER MINISTERS WHO HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH HONG KONG, OR WHO HAVE AN INTEREST IN HONG KONG. SO IN QUITE A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE THE NEW MINISTERS IN THE FOREIGN OFFICE, THE PRIME MINISTER AND QUITE A CROSS-SECTION OF PEOPLE FROM PARLIAMENT AND BUSINESS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN HONG KONG. I THINK YOU WILL ALL HAVE SEEN THE ANNOUNCEMENT WHICH WAS MADE AT THE END OF OUR TALKS AND SO I NEEDN'T REPEAT THAT TO YOU, AND I THINK ALL I NEED DO AT THIS STAGE IS SAY WHO WOULD LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION?

QUESTION: COULD YOU SAY WHETHER THE ISSUE OF SOVEREIGNTY HAS BEEN RESOLVED, BECAUSE HERE IN HONG KONG WE HAVE VARIOUS SPECULATIONS IN THE PRESS THAT BRITAIN IS QUITE WILLING TO GIVE UP SOVEREIGNTHY, BUT AFTER YOUR TALKS WITH MRS THATCHER, COULD YOU TELL US WHAT EXACTLY IS HAPPENING ON THAT ISSUE?

<

H.E.: WELL, I THINK I HAD BETTER MAKE QUITE A GENERAL STATEMENT AT THE BEGINNING, WHICH IS, I KNOW OF ALL THIS SPECULATION WHICH IS GOING ON IN THE PRESS AND THE SPECULATION ABOUT POSITIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN TAKEN UP AND WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN TAKEN UP, BUT WE HAVE SAID · AND I REPEAT AGAIN, THAT THE TALKS ARE CONFIDENTIAL AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO COMMENT ON INDIVIDUAL PRESS STORIES. THE GENERAL SPECULATION IS NOT AN ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF THE POSITION, AND THE REASON I MAKE THIS STATEMENT THIS MORNING IS THAT AS YOU ALL KNOW, I SHALL BE GOING TO PEKING NEXT WEEK AND I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THAT WILL LEAD TO ANOTHER WIDE SERIES OF STORIES ABOUT POSITIONS AND WHAT IS HAPPENING. NOW, IT IS NOT GOING TO BE POSSIBLE IF WE ARE GOING TO CONDUCT CONFIDENTIAL TALKS, TO COMMENT ON INDIVIDUAL ISSUES.

QUESTION