TNAG-1299-FCO40-1655-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-a-1984 — Page 37

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The papers also reported that Sir Geoffrey would leave for Seoul today to continue his visit to South East Asia. Sir Percy Cradock had already returned to Britain yesterday.

On those local people who wanted to leave HK to escape communist rule, the Financial Daily said analysts believed Britain would assist such people although Sir Geoffrey did not give a definitive statement on this at the press conference.

in London:

The $CM Post carried an agency report from London that the Labour Party yesterday accepted as inevitable Sir Geoffrey's statement that Britain would relinquish

Denis

sovereignty over HK in 1997. Labour spokesman on Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Healey? George Robertson, said the party had no interest in making very difficult negotiations more difficult.

Xu Jiatun:

NCNA's HK director Xu Jiatun told CU Students Union last week that China had begun to publish its plans for HK throughout the country to ensure they were accepted in 1997, the SCM Post reported. There were many problems regarding HK's future, but the key was a guarantee for the implementation of policies. He said: "Many worry that in future the practices adopted on the mainland will be implemented here. They want & and this is understandable." During the 13-year even an international one guarantee transition period, Britain would be responsible for HK in name and substance and China would support whatever was beneficial to HK's prosperity and stability.

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Press Commentaries

Chinese Press

The Secretary of State's press conference remained the subject of editorial comment in 16 papers today. Response from non-communist papers varied from favourable to cautious. The papers generally commented on the theme of whether there would be adequate guarantee from China to maintain the system in HK. The two major left-wing papers, Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao, in their first editorial comment on Sir Geoffrey Howe's press conference, maintained their editorial stance that there would be wide scope of co-operation between Britain and China to maintain HK's prosperity and stability.

In the non-communist press, Wah Kiu Yat Po said editorially that Sir Geoffrey's statement drew more brickbats than bouquets because the Secretary of State did not mention what effective guarantee there should be to ensure that China would give a high degree of autonomy to HK. The people of HK were

In a completely different tone, more worried after hearing Sir Geoffrey's statement a commentary in the paper said Sir Geoffrey was steering Britain's policy towards HK on the right course. He was firm in his stance and faced reality without any pretence.