TNAG-1251-FCO40-1584-Third-countries-and-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 40

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DESKBY 090830Z

FM HONG KONG 09073BZ FEB 83

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

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нако40 15

1 O FER 1983

TELEGRAM NUMBER 200 OF 9 FEBRUARY 1983

INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING AND PRIORITY WASHINGTON

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INDEX

YOUR TELNO 67 TO PEKING AND PEKING TELNO 127 (NOT TO WASHINGTON): FUTURE OF HONG KONG: US SECRETARY OF STATE'S VISIT TO CHINA

1. WHEN SHULTZ CALLED ON ME TODAY HE SAID THAT THE HONG KONG

QUESTION DID COME UP DURING HIS VISIT TO PEKING BUT ONLY PERIPHERALLY. HE HAD RECEIVED ONE MAIN IMPRESSION: THAT THE CHINESE REGARDED THE ISSUE AS ONE OF SOVEREIGNTY AND THAT THERE WAS NO GIVE IN THEIR POSITION ON THIS. HE HIMSELF HAD POINTED TO THE COMPLEXITY OF THE HONG KONG ECONOMY BUT THE SUBJECT WAS

NOT PURSUED. SHULTZ ADDED THAT WHILE IT WAS CLEAR TO HIM THAT

THE HONG KONG AND TAIWAN ISSUES WERE LINKED IN CHINESE MINDS,

THE CHINESE HAD NOT BEEN EXPLICIT ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE LINK

AND HE HAD SEEN NO ADVANTAGE IN PRESSING THEM.

A£ 2 1 1 2 1

2. SHULTZ REFERRED TO HIS MEETING WITH THE PRIME MINISTER IN DECEMBER, AND TO THE BRIEFINGS HE HAD RECEIVED THROUGH SIR O WRIGHT. AT THIS STAGE THE US HAD TAKEN THE VIEW THAT THEY COULD BEST HELP BY KEEPING QUIET, AND TAKING THE LINE PUBLICLY THAT THE PROBLEM WAS ONE FOR THE CHINESE AND BRITISH GOVERNMENTS. BUT THEY REALISED

THAT CHINESE IGNORANCE ABOUT HOW HONG KONG WORKED WAS A MAJOR PROBLEM, AND THEY HAD BEEN ENCOURAGING US BUSINESSMEN WITH INTERESTS

IN HONG KONG TO EXPRESS THEIR CONCERNS WHEN THEY VISITED CHINA.

3. I TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO OVER THE HISTORY OF THE ISSUE, THE PRESENT STATE OF THE TALKS AND THE CURRENT SITUATION IN HONG KONG, PARTICULARLY AS REGARDS CONFIDENCE. FULL RECORD BY BAG.

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MR HURD

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HD/PLANNING STAFF SIR J BULLARD

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MR DONALD

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