TNAG-1263-FCO40-1606-Parliamentary-contacts-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 37

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He found Denis Bray hostile, speaking with "blazing eyes and clenched teeth": he described the session with Denis as "unpleasant".

[I expressed very great surprise at this

and said that in my experience I had never known Denis Bray to lose his temper or to be unpleasant: but Adley stuck to his story

Repeatedly he criticised UMELCO (and particularly Unofficial Members of ExCo) as having "entrenched" views and as being "out of touch" and "not at all repre- sentative" of the people of Hong Kong, especially over the question of sovereignty. He said that Sir S.Y. Chung was disliked by the communists and that his attitude on the future could jeopardise negotiations over the issue.

(iii) He stated his view that China was the only

party with real power in the negotiations: that regardless of promises and undertakings to Hong Kong people, Britain would be "unable to deliver"; that where Parliament was concerned few MPs were interested in Hong Kong, and Parliament would certainly not wish to prejudice relations with China because of Hong Kong. He said that on return to Britain he had re-emphasised these views to Sir Geoffrey Howe: that Sir Geoffrey had not responded in any detail as he knew so little about the, issue.

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(iv)

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Against this background his advice to Hong Kong people had to be that they must be "more realistic" and not upset China. He felt that if Members of ExCo and others in Hong Kong continued their stubborn attitudes, they would simply be playing into the hands of the leftists in China. He remarked that Teng had his enemies in Peking and elsewhere in China and that, clearly, he would much sooner the Hong Kong issue be resolved quietly without undue exposure to public scrutiny.

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