TNAG-1304-FCO40-1660-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-a-1984 — Page 183

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FM HONG KONG 13085OZZ JUL 84

TO F LAS H FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 1922 OF 13 JULY

INFO F L A S H PEKING

FROM PS/MR LUCE

PEKING TELNO 1395: ANNOUNCEMENT OF SECRETARY OF STATE'S VISIT.

1. ALTHOUGH IT HAS NOT YET BEEN ANNOUNCED, THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S

FORTHCOMING VISIT IS HEADLINES IN TODAY'S HONG KONG PRESS.

2. MR LUCE IS BEING CLOSELY QUESTIONED ABOUT THIS. THE STORIES HAVE

ALSO GIVEN RISE TO A NEW SPATE OF RUMOURS OF ''CRISIS'', LEADING

TO PRESSURE ON THE HONG KONG DOLLAR. FOR BOTH THESE REASONS, MR

LUCE WOULD SEE STRONG ADVANTAGE IN A FORMAL ANNOUNCEMENT BEING

MADE TODAY (13 JULY) AT THE 12:30 FCO PRESS CONFERENCE

(WITH SIMULTANEOUS RELEASE IN PEKING AND HONG KONG).

3. THE WORDING MIGHT MOST SENSIBLY FOLLOW THAT EMPLOYED FOR THE

APRIL VISIT. ON THIS BASIS IT MIGHT READ:

SIR GEOFFREY HOWE WILL VISIT CHINA AND HONG KONG FROM JULY 25 -

AUGUST 3. HE WILL VISIT PEKING BETWEEN 28 AND 31 JULY AT THE

INVITATION OF CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER, MR WU XUEQIAN. HE WILL

HAVE DISCUSSIONS WITH MR WU AND OTHER CHINESE LEADERS ON ALL

ASPECTS OF HONG KONG'S FUTURE AS WELL AS OTHER INTERNATIONAL AND

BILATERAL ISSUES.

SIR GEOFFREY HOWE WILL VISIT HONG KONG ON HIS WAY TO AND FROM

PEKING. THIS WILL GIVE HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN TO THE VIEWS

OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG. HE WILL MEET WITH THE GOVERNOR AND

MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS, AND OTHER PEPRESENT-

ATIVES OF THE HONG KONG COMMUNTITY.

4. MR LUCE WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF SIR R.EVANS COULD BE GIVEN AUTHORITY

BY FLASH TELEGRAM TO OBTAIN ZHOU NAN'S CLEARANCE FOR THE RELEVANT

SECTION OF THE TEXT, IN TIME FOR THE 12:30 CONFERENCE.

5. THERE REMAINS THE QUESTION OF HOW TO PRESENT THE VISIT IN

BACKGROUND BRIEFING. MR LUCE BELIEVES THAT WE SHOULD AIM FOR A

JUDICIOUS MIXTURE OF BUSINESS AS USUAL'' AND UP-BEAT PRESENTATION

IN ORDER TO COUNTERACT THE RUMOURS OF CRISIS. THE ELEMENTS MIGHT

INCLUDE:

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