A
A
1.
£3
B
W
HRR
01113
RECEIVED IN RED SURY
- 7 FEB 1984
DESK OF! WAR
INDEX
subj
PS/Mr Lyce
PA
lon Taken:
Not
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6/2/10
(32)
Dr Luce is cover
Tec des paklu"
FROM: R D CLIFT, HKD DATE: 6 February 1984
cc:
Gor. spoke on these lines tray.
Пивтр
HONG KONG: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROBLEM
31
PS PS/PUS
Sir P Cradock
Mr Donald
Mr Thomson, FED
Нив
Mr Clarke, News Dept
How to respond to Hong Kong telno 291, reporting that Mr Luce's written replies on 31 January to Pęs put down by
Mr Robert Parry MP. have been misinterpreted by some of the media in Hong Kong, and suggesting how the Governor might clarify the situation.
RECOMMENDATION
2. I recommend that a reply should be sent on the lines of the attached draft telegram, agreeing to the Governor's
proposal.
BACKGROUND AND ARGUMENT
3.
4/2
Mr Parry put down three PQs on constitutional issues for
written answer on 31 January. One referred to the appointment of a Chinese Governor, on to an elected Urban Council and one to
an elected Legislative Council. The answer to the third Question, which was not intended to be negative, seems to have been compared adversely in recent well-publicised and well-received remarks by Miss Lydia Dunn and others that elections to the Legislative Council would be a logical development.
4.
A Ministerial reply in the Official Record is clearly quite different from an expression of personal opinion by an Unofficial member of the Executive Council, but such distinctions are not always appreciated by the Hong Kong press. This reaction underlines again the need for extreme care in the drafting of any official statements on topical issues in Hong Kong. On this particular occasion, we as usual consulted the Hong Kong Government, and agreed with them a slightly longer reply than that finally approved by Mr Luce.
SECRET
/5.
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