TNAG-1357-FCO40-1798-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 96

CONFIDENTIAL

emasculating the 1987 Review, or not appearing seriously to consult local opinion, that the Hong Kong Government will be seen as capitulating to Chinese pressure. This is so. It is particularly true of the perceptions of articulate, and usually foreign-trained, members of the managerial class. But it should also be realised that Hong Kong opinion in general expects the Government to take account of opinions in Peking and not put the territory in a position where there

is direct confrontation. The essential technique (in which Hong Kong has generally succeeded during the past 30 years) is to assess carefully Peking's likely response;

avoid any direct confrontation; and preserve the appearance of being solely in command. A situation in which confrontation

resulted in the Hong Kong Government backing down would be a great deal worse than one in which some people perceived the Government as trimming its sails to the Peking wind.

3.

No immediate operational decisions are called for at this stage, although we shall soon have to decide on the

content of our side of the informal dialogue with the Chinese.

4.

At his meeting tomorrow, the Secretary of State may wish to have a general discussion considering first the four main components of the submission (Chinese concerns; the position in Hong Kong; the Hong Kong Government's views; and UK pressures) before moving on to consider the tentative

conclusions.

cc: PS/Mr Renton

PS/PUS

Sir W Harding

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D C Wilson