TNAG-1309-FCO40-1666-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 137

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RECEIVED IN REGIST

27 MAR 1984

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CODE 18-77

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1. I spent a useful half-hour with Mr Hum discussing parliamentary handling of progress towards a draft agreement. The following points emerged:

(a) Assuming that the Chinese agree to the Secretary of State's visit, its timing cannot be altered so that any statement on Hong Kong can be made while Parliament is sitting.

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(b) HKD have agreed with Mr Butler that several hundred copies of the statement would therefore have to be made available in both Houses immediately after delivery.

(e) This might then be followed by a statement by Mr Luce on the first day after the recess, repeated in the House of Lords. The Secretary of State has questioned whether the statement need be on the first day.

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2.

The Chinese deadline of September appears to be immutable. The text of any draft agreement is consequently likely to emerge during the Summer recess. Texts would again be placed in the libraries of both Houses, and an early opportunity for debate arranged after Parliament resumes at the end of October.

Mr Hum told me that both Mr Luce and officials had been briefing MPs about progress and that Mr Haley, Mr Steel and Dr Owen had been briefed in some detail on Privy Counsellor terms. I suggested that HKD might find it useful to involve the PPSs, Mr Goodlad and Mr Houston once the Secretary of State's visit was confirmed, and offered to arrange a meeting similar to that on the European Summit.

3. The timing of (c) is complicated by the fact that the FCO will be top for questions on the first day after the recess, 25 April. Oral PQs can be tabled between 12-19 April which makes it inevitable that questions on Hong Kong will feature prominently among them. It would not be right to make a long statement in response to one of these PQs, which suggests that Mr Luce should make a statement immediately after FCO questions. The Parliamentary Clerk has pointed out that an inspired written PO before the recess could be used to inform the House that a statement will be made as soon as the House resumes business.

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