TNAG-1263-FCO40-1606-Parliamentary-contacts-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 127

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GRS 1500

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DESKBY 10100OZ

FROM PEKING 100915Z SEP 83

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 879 OF 10TH SEP

INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG

MIPT: FUTURE OF HONG KONG: MR HEATH'S VISIT

1. FOLLOWING IS EXTRACT RELATING TO HONG KONG OF RECORD OF AK

MEETING WITH DENG XIAOPING ON 10 SEPTEMBER. BEGINS:

2. MR HEATH SAID THAT HE HOPED THAT BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH

WESTER EUROPE AND THE UK WOULD REMAIN GOOD. MR DENG REPLIED THAT

THERE WERE NO CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN BRITAIN AND CHINA EXCEPT

FOR HONG KONG, WHICH WAS NOT DIFFICULT TO RESOLVE. THE BRITISH

AIN OF EXCHANGING SOVEREIGNTY FOR ADMINISTRATION WAS NOT

POSSIBLE. HE WISHED TO SAY THIS FRANKLY. ON 22 SEPTEMBER THE

SECOND PHASE OF THE NEGOTIATHONS WOULD RESUME. HE HAD NOT ASKED

ABOUT THE DETAILS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS, BUT HE HOPED THAT THEY

I WOULD NOT GET STUCK ON THE ISSUE OF ADMINISTRATION. HE HOPED THAT

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CHINA WOULD NOT BE OBLIGED TO #SSUE A UNILATERAL DECLARATION ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG: CHINA HOPED ON THE CONTRARY TO SEE A

JOINT DECLARATION BY CHINA AND THE UK. THIS WOULD BE MORE

BENEFICIAL FOR THE UK. HE HAD TOLD MRS THATCHER WHEN HE SAW

HER IN 1982 THAT THE PROBLEM SHOULD BE SOLVED IN TWO YEARS TIME,

IE BY SEPTEMBER 1984. (AT THIS POINT AN MFA REPRESENTATIVE TRIED

TO CORRECT HIM THAT HE HAD SAID 1-2 YEARS RATHER THAN TWO YEARS:

DENG BRUSHED THIS ASIDE AND SAID THAT IT WAS THE SAME AS SAYING

TWO).

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3. MR HEATH SAID THAT A JOINT STATEMENT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL NOT

ONLY TO THE UK BUT TO CHINA AS WELL. IT WOULD HAVE A BIG INFLUENCE

ON INTERNATIONAL OPINION ON TAIWAN, AND PARTICULARLY IN THE

UNITED STATES. MR DENG AGREED THAT A JOINT STATEMENT WOULD BE IN

THE INTERESTS OF BOTH SIDES, PARTICULARLY WITH A VIEW TO THE LONG

TERM RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES. AFTER THE SECOND WORLD

WAR THE UK HAD GIVEN UP MANY COLONIES: HAVING HAD MORE COLONIES

THAN OTHER COUNTRIES SHE HAD GIVEN UP MORE, STARTING WITH INDIA.

WHEN CHINA RECOVERED HONG KONG SHE WOULD IMPLEMENT REALISTIC

AND PRACTICAL POLICIES, WHICH WOULD NOT BE TO THE DISADVANTAGE

OF THE UK, NOR DAMAGE THE UK. IF HONG KONG WERE TO GO ON ITS

PRESENT POSITION, THE UK WOULD STILL REMAIN A COLONIAL POWER.

HE ASKED WHETHER HONG KONG WAS THE LAST BRITISH COLONY. HE

RECALLED THAT NOT LONG AGO A COLONY IN THE CARIBBEAN HAD BECOME

INDEPENDENT. HE DID NOT KNOW IF WE HAD ANY OTHERS. MR HEATH REPLIED THAT THERE WERE A SMALL NUMBER OF COLONIES WHICH DID NOT

WISH TO BE INDEPENDENT, FOR INSTANCE GIBRALTAR. MR DENG OBSERVED

THAT BRITAIN'S QUARREL WITH SPAIN WAS NOT YET OVER. HE HOPED

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