TNAG-1299-FCO40-1655-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-a-1984 — Page 86

GR 1200

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DESKBY 2109OOZ

AKCE 02712

RESTRICTED RECEIVED IN PESTRY

26 APR 1984

K OFFICEA

PA

CISTRY

2971

FM HONG KONG, 210425Z APR 34

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 1099 OF 21 APRIL

INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING ROUTINE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON

FOR HONG KONG GOVT REPS BRUSSELS WASHINGTON NEW YORK GENEVA

RESIDENT CLERK PLEASE PASS TO PS/MR LUCE

FUTURE OF HONG KONG: PRESS COVERAGE

SUMMARY

1. THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S PRESS CONFERENCE AND COMMENT ON IT

COMPLETELY DOMINATED ALL SECTORS OF THE PRESS AS WELL AS TV

AND RADIO NEWS. A NUMBER OF SPECIAL TV AND RADIO DISCUSSION PROGRAMMES WERE ORGANISED. THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S REMARK

IN HIS OPENING STATEMENT TO THE EFFECT THAT BRITISH ADMINISTRATION AFTER 1997 WAS NOT A REALISTIC PROSPECT RECEIVED THE MOST

ATTENTION. COMMENT BOTH IN EDITORIALS AND FROM THE LARGE NUMBER OF PUBLIC FIGURES WHO WERE INTERVIEWED, WAS GENERALLY FAVOURABLE, ALTHOUGH THERE WERE SOME GLOOMY EXCEPTIONS, NOTABLY THE RIGHT-WING AND PRO-TAIWAN PRESS.

DETAIL

(A) COVERAGE

2. MANY PAPERS INCLUDING BOTH MAJOR COMMUNIST PAPERS, CARRIED THE FULL TEXTS OF SECRETARY OF STATE'S STATEMENT AND THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION. HEADLINES FOCUSSED ON THE PASSAGE INDICATING THAT IT WAS NOT REALISTIC TO THINK IN TERMS OF BRITISH ADMINISTRATION AFTER 1997. MING PAO AND SING TAO DAILY

(ALL INDEPENDENT) HIGHLIGHTED THE REMARKS ABOUT SEEKING ASSURANCES OF CONTINUITY: ORIENTAL DAILY (INDEPENDENT) SAID IN ITS HEADLINE THAT THE TALKS WERE AIMING FOR AN AGREEMENT ENSHRINING THE PRINCIPLE OF HONG KONG PEOPLE TO RUN HONG KONG. THE MAJOR COMMUNIST NEWSPAPER HEADLINES READ QUOTE SIR GEOFFREY INDICATES THAT BRITAIN DOES NOT INSIST ON SOVEREIGNTY: AM AGREEMENT WILL PRESERVE EXISTING SYSTEMS IN HONG KONG UNQUOTE. (WEN WEI PO) AND QUOTE BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY FORMALLY ANNOUNCES THAT BRITAIN WILL NO LONGER CONTROL HONG KONG AFTER 1997 UNQUOTE. MORE PESSIMISTIC NOTES WERE STRUCK BY THE SING PAO (INDEPENDENT) QUOTE BRITAIN ABANDONS HONG KONG UNQUOTE AND BY THE RIGHT WING AND PRO-TAIWAN PRESS. THE KUNG SHEUNG

DAILY SAID THAT BRITAN WAS ABANDONING SOVEREIGNTY WITH NO GUARANTEE THAT THINGS WOULD REMAIN THE SAME FOR 50 YEARS. THE NEW CHINA NEWS AGENCY PUT OUT A DESPATCH IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SERVICE QUOTING WITHOUT COMMENT EXTENSIVE EXTRACTS FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S STATEMENT. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT PAPERS NOTED THE APPEARANCE OF THE NCNA DESPATCH.

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COMMENT

the