TNAG-1249-FCO40-1563-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 145

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DESKBY FCO 2809OOZ

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MKK040/2

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RECEIVED IN REGISTRY SEP 1983

FM HONG KONG 28074OZ SEP 83

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 1426 OF 28 SEPTEMBER

Actic

CM24/10

INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON, PEKANG,

UKM-NS NEW YORK (FOR S OF S PARTY), WASHINGTON (FOR PS TO PM) INFO ROUTINE HK GOVT REPS WASHINGTON, CG NEW YORK, UKMIS GENEVA, BRUSSELS

FUTURE OF HONG KONG: PRESS COVERAGE

1. A COMMENTATOR IN YESTERDAY'S NEW EVENING POST (COMMUNIST)

ARGUED THAT BRITAIN'S TACTICS IN THE TALKS ON HONG KONG'S FUTURE

WERE TO CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE OF LOCAL PANIC AND CHAOS TO RALLY

SUPPORT FOR CONTINUED BRITISH ADMINISTRATION AFTER 1997. TO

THIS END BRITAIN HAD PLAYED TS ECONOMIC CARD WITH SOME MMPACT. HOWEVER, THIS HAD DISRUPTED THE ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF

THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG AND DEMONSTRATED THAT BRITAIN HAD ALREADY

GIVEN UP THE PUBLIC OPINION CARD''. T MEANT THAT LOCAL

PUBLIC OPINION WOULD NO LONGER BE RESPECTED.

2. THE NEW EVENING POST'S COMMENTARY NOTWITHSTANDING, COMMENT

IN THE LEADING COMMUNIST NEWSPAPERS WAS MUTED TODAY.

BOTH WEN WEN PO AND TA KUNG PAO WELCOMED THE GOVERNMENT'S

TAKEOVER OF THE HANG LUNG BANK, EMPHASHISHING THAT THIS HAD

BEEN DONE TO PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF DEPOSITORS. TA KUNG PAO

NEVERTHELESS SAW RECENT GOVERNMENT MEASURES AS PROOF THAT

**POSITIVE NON-INTERVENTION'' POLICHES WERE WRONG.

3. THE INDEPENDENT PRESS ALSO WELCOMED THE GOVERNMENT'S

ACTION OVER THE HANG LUNG BANK, IN PARTICULAR THE CAREFUL AND

UNEMOTIONAL EXPLANATION THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN.

4. MOST INDEPENDENT PAPERS (BUT, ODDLY, NOT THE MAJOR COMMUNIST

ONES) REPORTED COMMENTS MADE BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE CHINESE

ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, MA HONG, AT AN ECONOMIC SYMPOSIUM

HN HONG KONG YESTERDAY. MA SAID THAT CHINA'S U.S. DOLLARS 4, 000

MILLION (SHC) FOREIGN EXCHANGE EARNINGS THROUGH HONG KONG WERE

NOT A SIGNIFICANT "FACTOR IN CHINA'S OVERALL ECONOMY. CHINA 'S

ECONOMIC SUPPORT FOR HONG KONG (THROUGH THE EXPORT OF FOODSTUFFS),

ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS VH-TAL TO THE TERRITORY'S SURVIVAL. HE

SAND THAT HONG KONG'S CAPITALIST SYSTEM WOULD REMAIN UNCHANGED

OVER 50 YEARS AFTER CHINA HAD REGAINED SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE TERRITORY, AND THAT IT WOULD NOT BE INCORPORATED INTO THE ''PEARL RIVER DELTA ECONOMIC ZONE'.

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