TNAG-1322-FCO40-1728-Future-of-Hong-Kong-opinion-polls-and-surveys-1984 — Page 311

GR 1500

CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL UKK0402925

RECEIVED IN ?

(૩

FM HONG KONG 06085OZ JUL 84

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELEGRAM NUMBER 1849 OF 6 JULY

INFO PRIORITY PEKING

FOR CLIFT, HKD.

10 JUL 1984

G STR Action faéf

1 AFB 23/2018 2317

UR TELNO 1685: FUTURE OF HONG KONG: PUBLIC OPINION.

1. AS FAR AS HONG KONG OPINION IS CONCERNED, THE PAST FORTNIGHT

HAS BEEN DOMINATED BY THE VISIT TO PEKING FROM 21-25 JUNE BY

SIR S.Y. CHUNG, MISS LYDIA DUNN AND MR Q.W. LEE. THEY SUBSEQUENTLY

TOLD HONG KONG JOURNALISTS THAT THEY HAD PUT THREE PROPOSALS TO THE CHINES:

(A) THE SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT SHOULD BE DETAILED AND BINDING.

(B) THE BASIC LAW SHOULD BE DRAFTED JOINTLY IN HONG KONG BY LOCAL

PEOPLE AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM PEKING.

(C) A COMMITTEE OF INTERNATIONALLY PROMINENT CHINESE PEOPLE SHOULD

MONITOR THE DRAFTING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BASIC LAW.

2. THIS VISIT WAS SOURED BY THE DISOBLIGING RECEPTION THEY RECEIVED FROM DENG XIAOPING, WHICH WAS PROMINENTLY REPORTED IN HONG KONG AS

A DELIBERATE SNUB. THIS WAS IN TURN FOLLOWED BY PUBLIC DISAGREEMENT

ABOUT WHAT DENG HAD SAID ABOUT THE STATE OF CONFIDENUCE IN HONG

KONG: THE UNOFFICIALS CLAIMED HE HAD SAID THERE WAS NO CRISIS OF

CONFIDENCE IN HONG KONG, WHILE NCNA DENIED THIS AND TOOK THE UNPRECEDINTED STEP OF ISSUING A TRANSCRIPT OF THE CONVERSATION.

3. THE UNOFFICIALS' VISIT OVERLAPPED A VISIT BY THE DELEGATION

FROM THE HONG KONG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, THE CHINESE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION, AND THE FEDERATION OF HONG KONG INDUSTRIES, NOTED

IN PARAGRAPH 10 OF OUR TEL UNDER REF. THIS WAS ARRANGED BY THE

CHINESE AT VERY SHORT NOTICE, TO UPSTAGE THE UNOFFICIALS. THE DELEGATES CALLED ON THE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE BUREAU, AND STRESSED THE LACK OF BUSINESS CONFIDENCE IN HONG KONG AND THE NEED FOR THE

CHINESE TO GIVE SPECIFIC AND DETAILED ASSURANCES FOR THE CONTINUATION OF PRESENT SYSTEMS, LAWS AND PRACTICES. THE DELEGATION

ALSO HAD AN UNEXPECTED ONE AND A HALF HOUR MEETING ON 22 JUNE WITH

DENG XIAOPING. THEY TOLD HIM OF THE CONFIDENCE CRISIS IN HONG KONG

AND THE CONCERN THAT PRESENT CHINESE POLICIES MIGHT CHANGE IN

FUTURE YEARS, CITING THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION AND THE GANG OF FOUR.

DENG MADE A POINT OF RESPONDING AMIABLY AND REASONABLY, IN MARKED CONTRAST TO HIS TREATMENT OF THE THREE UNOFFICIALS THE FOLLOWING

DAY. HE EMPHASISED THAT CHINA MEANT WHAT IT SAID ABOUT ITS POLICIES

FOR HONG KONG.

CONFIDENTIAL

/4.

4. THE REPORTED

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