TNAG-1258-FCO40-1591-Third-countries-and-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 174

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can achieve only with difficulty.

The Japanese have a close interest in the future of

Hong Kong. Their economic stake in the territory is

substantial. So too are their economic interests in

Taiwan; hence they logically look for a solution to the

Hong Kong problem which does not adversely affect

confidence in Taiwan.

#1:

The Japanese have already shown a certain

willingness to share with us their perception of Chinese

policy towards Hong Kong and to volunteer information on

conversations with Chinese leaders which have touched on

the territory's future. We should try to exploit this.

There would be no question of using the Japanese as

intermediaries, or of feeding a line to the Japanese for

use with the Chinese. There might come a point, probably

after an agreement had been reached with China, when we

might find it useful to enlist Japanese help. This would

have to very carefully judged at the time. Until then we

should be cautious. The Japanese certainly have a

general interfest in Hong Kong continuing to prosper, but

they also set great store by their relations with China,

and could not necessarily be relied on to put over

messages helpful to British interests.

At this stage we simply suggest that our Embassy in

Tokyo should be instructed to brief the Japanese Foreign

Ministry at a senior official level. The degree of

disclosure would be rather less forthcoming than with the

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