TNAG-1254-FCO40-1587-Third-countries-and-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 192

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Mr Clift

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CALL BY MR NILSSON OF THE SWEDISH EMBASSY, 11.00 AM, 24 AUGUST.

1.

You may like to know that the Second Secretary (Political Affairs) at the Swedish Embassy (Mr Bringeus) called on Mr Hoare on 24 July for a briefing on Hong Kong. It took the usual bland form. The Swedes have shown no other interest so far as I am aware.

2. The call by Mr Nilsson, who is Counsellor (Political Affairs), may be related to Yao Guang's forthcoming visit to Scandinavia and his remarks at the dinner given by Scandinavian Ambassadors in Peking on 3 August (Mr Peirce's teleletter attached refers).

3.

I do not think we should go into much detail with the Swedes, although there would be no harm in giving them some points for possible use in rebuffing some of China's SAR ideas in the event of Yao Guang raising the matter. I take it you do not need

a brief.

22 August 1983

W Morris

Hong Kong Department

Mr Morris

I

1. Mr Nilsson asked what I could tell him about the talks. said not much. They were confidential. I mentioned the three sessions, the recess and the agreed resumption in September. talked about the Chinese propaganda activity saying that after a lull we now looked as if we were approaching a new peak. One of the Chinese objectives was to attack people in Hong Kong who did not accept the Chinese conditions and who criticised the Chinese plan for providing insufficient assurances. This probably because the Chinese had been disconcerted by the growth of criticism in recent months of which the visit of the Young Prof- essionals to Peking was the best example.

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2. I said that we had been trying to get over to the Chinese some of the facts and complexities of the Hong Kong system. Mr Nilsson supposed that our negotiating process was therefore educative as well as argumentative. Did I think that the education process had had any effect? I said it was too early to say. He commented that earlier in the summer there appeared to be a feeling that we were making progress with the Chinese. Were we now more despondent? I said that we were at too early a stage to form conclusions but we were prepared to keep on negotiating patiently. Were we not facing a deadline? I said that the Chinese talk of

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