TNAG-1248-FCO40-1562-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 33

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FM HONG KONG 160855Z AUG 33

TO ROUTINE FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 1203 OF 16 AUGUST

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TOP COPY MKK040 12

RECEIVED IN REĢISTRY 16 AUG 1983

DESK OFFICER

INFO ROUTINE PEKING, HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON, WASHINGTON (FOR HK GOVT REP), CG NEW YORK (FOR HK GOVT REPT BRUSSELS (FOR HK GOVT REP), UKMIS GENEVA (FOR HK GONT REPT

FUTURE OF HONG KONG: PRESS COVERAGE.

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1. PROMINENT COVERAGE WAS GIVEN IN ALL ENGLISH AND CHINESE LANGUAGE PAPERS TO AN NCNA DESPATCH REPROTING HU YAOBANG'S STATEMENT YESTERDAY TO THE VISITING PRESIDENT OF JAPAN'S MAINICHI PRESS. 2. ACCORDING TO NCNA, HU HAD REITERATED THE UNEQUAL NATURE OF THE TREATIES REGARDING HONG KONG, BUT SINCE THEY DID EXIST AND BORE THE DATE 30 JUNE 1997, CHINA WOULD ''RESPECT HISTORY'' AND WOULD TAKE BACK HONG KONG ON 1 JULY 1997, ''NEITHER EARLIER NOR LATER''. THE SINO-BRITISH TALKS ON THE FUTURE WERE ABOUT WAYS OF MAINTAINING STABILITY AND PROSPERITY UP TO AND BEYOND 1997, FOR WHICH HU SAID CHINA HAD A ''COMPLETE SET OF POLICIES''.

3. TA KUNG PAO (COMMUNIST) SAID THAT HU'S STATEMENT INDICATED THAT THE TRANSITION TO CHINA'S RECOVERY OF SOVEREIGNTY HAD NOW BEGUN AND THAT DEPENDING ON THE PROGRESS OF THE SINO-BRITISH TALKS, CHINA WOULD ANNOUNCE ITS SET OF POLICIES FOR MAINTAINING THE PROSPERITY OF HONG KONG. HU'S STATEMENT ALSO INDICATED THAT THE QUESTION OF SOVEREIGNTY HAD NEVER ARISEN DURING THE SINO-BRITISH TALKS AND HAD SHATTERED THE ILLUSIONS OF THOSE WHO HAD TRIED TO SEPARATE SOVEREIGNTY AND ADMINISTRATION. COMMENTING ON HU'S STATEMENT, WEN WEI PO (COMMUNIST) SAID THAT ALL PATRIOTIC CHINESE WOULD AGREE THAT ''HONG KONG PEOPLE TO RULE HONG KONG'' WAS THE BEST ARRANGEMENT FOR THE FUTURE BOTH FROM THE INVESTORS' AND HONG KONG COMPRATIOTS' POINTS OF VIEW. TIN TIN DAILY NEWS (PRO-CHINA) SAID THAT HU'S STATEMENT WOULD STOP FURTHER SPECULATION AND RUMOUR. IT WAS A STATEMENT OF THE INEVITABLE AND THEREFORE HONG KONG PEOPLE SHOULD NOT RECEIVE IT WITH ANY SURPRISE.

4. OF THE EDITORIALS IN THE INDEPENDENT PRESS, THE HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL TOOK HU'S STATEMENT TO MEAN THAT CHINA WOULD NOT SUDDENLY RECOVER HONG KONG BEFORE 1997. HONG KONG PEOPLE THEREFORE HAD UNTIL THEN TO MAKE THEIR CHOICES. SOME WOULD WITHDRAW LONG-TERM INVESTMENT, OTHERS WOULD RENT RATHER THAN BUY PROPERTY, WHILST STILL OTHERS WOULD CHOOSE TO EMIGRATE. ALL THESE WOULD AFFECT HONG KONG'S ECONOMY, THE KEY TO WHICH LAY IN THE EXTENT OF COOPERATION BETWEEN CHINA AND BRITAIN DURING THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD. MING PAO SAID THAT HU HAD NOW MADE THE CHINESE POSITION VERY CLEAR BUT THE COMMON GOAL NOW HAD TO BE COOPERATION BETWEEN CHINA, BRITAIN AND HONG KONG TO MAINTAIN THE STABILITY AND PROSPERITY OF THE TERRITORY. FINANCIAL DAILY SAW HU'S STATEMENT AS A REITERATION OF PREVIOUS STATMENTS, ALTHOUGH A FIRM DATE HAD YOW SEEN INJECTED IN AN ATTEMPT TO APPLY PRESSURE ON BRITAIN BY RESOLUTELY REFUSING AN EXTENSION OF ANY FORM OF BRITISH RULE IN HONG KONG AFTER 1997.

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