TNAG-1306-FCO40-1663-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 132

Mr Morris

$1.

Hong Kong Department

SECRET

Reference

HKK040/1

1964

REGISTRY

Action Taken

и

CMBLI

HONG KONG AND COMMUNIST POLICY IN SHANGHAI IN THE 1950s

You asked for comments on the remarks made by the Tongan representative at CHOGM, reported in John Coles's letter to Peter Ricketts of 21 December.

1.

2.

The Tongan's remarks are misleading. It is true that many businessmen in China in the 1950s felt that the new Chinese Government had gone back on its promise, given in the Common Programme of September 1949, to 'encourage the active operation of all private economic enterprises beneficial to the national welfare and to the people's livelihood', but the new Chinese Communist Government did not make any statements on the status of Shanghai similar to current Chinese proposals for a special system in Hong Kong embodying a high degree of autonomy.

3. The Tongan government maintains close relations with the Chinese Nationalist regime in Taiwan. I think it likely that the representative's remarks are based on views expressed by Taiwan officials.

See 29

5 January 1984

RFE

. K C Walker

Asian Region

Research Department OAB 2/125

273 3502

cc: Mr Thomson FED

CODE 18-77

SECRET