TNAG-1263-FCO40-1606-Parliamentary-contacts-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 145

in the past?

5.

It

I am convinced a sensible settlement is negotiable.

should be based on British interests, on the natural expectations

of the people of the Colony to a secure and prosperous future,

But and on the fact of Chinese power and proximity. Tough

talk, like "concern", is not enough by itself, and has never

helped anyone. This is not a seminar; it is the real

thing. I am no longer privy to the advice the Foreign

Office is giving Ministers on this or other matters, or

to how far Ministers are inclined to listen. What

I do know from experience (and not only in Britain)

is that when the diplomats are set up as the fall guys,

someone, somewhere is probably dodging the issue. In the

FCO, as in the DHSS, the Ministers take the decisions, followed

by No 10, then the Cabinet. No one blames the officials

-and hope that

of the DHSS for the harsh necessity of controls on health

service expenditure.

I imagine the government's policy on

Hong Kong is equally realistic.

Not only an economy, but a distinct culture is at stake.

Having once studied T'ang poetry with a Chinese professor

in an aromatic tenement in Wanchai, with the noise of the

Ma jong games from the night club across the road drifting

through open windows, I am keenly aware of this aspect of