CONFIDENTIAL
4.
The despatch perhaps brings to mind some interesting
additional questions. Looked at in retrospect were we
right to enter into negotiations as early as 1982? Would
it have been better to wait until later? Would we have
done better (though I recognise that it was almost
certainly politically impossible) if we had not sought at
the outset continued British administration?
Perhaps
most interestingly, what factors conditioned the
formation of Chinese policy on Hong Kong? To what extent
might there be latent opposition to what has been done,
and could it become a factor in the future? The Last
question is of
is of course very relevant to our own policies
over implementation of the agreement, and we should
value your analysis in due course. I am sure there are
others.
5.
a great many problems
On the whole I share your qualified optimism about
the future. There are bound to be
with the Chinese in the meantime.
from the start to use the Joint Liaison Group in a
But we must set out
positive way, with the aim of using it, eventually, to
get at the Basic Law, and to making a smooth transition
in 1997 possible.
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