TNAG-1312-FCO40-1687-Future-of-Hong-Kong-views-and-involvement-of-Australia--Cana-1984 — Page 75

CONFIDENTIAL

Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH

Telephone 01-

Your reference

DR Upton Esq

RECEIVED 1. Beds TRY

Our reference

CANBERRA

/04

Date

9 February 1984

TH

IN

Gile

Jem Zürid,

AUSTRALIAN PRESS COVERAGE: FUTURE OF HONG KONG

1.

MKK040/5 (1483) 669)

A somewhat belated thank you for your letter of 20 December and enclosure which arrived on my desk only this morning. We were grateful to see the "Sydney Morning Herald" article; also to know what coverage has been given more recently by the Australian press to Hong Kong's future (your telno 68 refers).

2.

In the absence of hard facts (resulting of course from the confidentiality of the Sino-British talks) I suppose it

is inevitable that press speculation about Hong Kong's future will continue both in the UK and elsewhere. Although we do not comment publicly on such speculation, it is true to say that much of it is pretty wide of the mark. We have noticed many inaccuracies of fact as well as of interpretation. The "Sydney Morning Herald"

article is a case in point; it stated, inter alia (and eroneously) that:

(a) The Chinese have started to bypass the talks, "going

direct to the Hong Kong Chinese in informal links;

(b)

The Hong Kong Observers are "an independent body of young Hong Kong Chinese leaders set up to discuss the 1997 question with China" (They are, in fact, a group of young, western-educated Hong Kong Chinese professionals who, since the 1970's have taken an interest in Hong Kong's political issues generally);

"

(c) "The word "colony" was removed from Hong Kong

banknotes this year in deference to China S dislike of the word when referring to Hong Kong; (no such step has been taken).

yous ever,

JSC Priest (Mrs) Hong Kong Department

CONFIDENTIAL

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