TNAG-1499-FCO40-2057-Guangdong-nuclear-power-station-project-at-Daya-Bay-safety-c-1986 — Page 133

DSR 11C

4.

will be

The Governor has asked us to recognise that there

of

the

a price to pay for the continuation

project in terms of confidence among the people of Hong Kong; and that this price will be substantially raised

during the 1990s, when the station is commissioned.

has invited Ministers to consider whether they should

point

to the Chinese Government the political

benefits that

out

He

could

be

obtained in

Hong Kong

if

the

Chinese were to decide now to move the project from Daya

Bay or to convert it to a thermal station.

5.

Such

a

step would

of course

have

major

implications for our relationships with the Chinese and

as governments,

well as for British commercial

There would no doubt be wider consequences

French

interests.

too in terms of

this

country of

the

perceptions in

to nuclear power, and of the risks

Government's attitude

associated with it.

6.

Our immediate

must, I

suggest,

be

to continue providing the

response to the Governor's concerns

fullest

possible

support

to

the

Government Hong Kong

in its

present difficult position. We must demonstrate to them,

and enable them to demonstrate to a nervous and volatile

t

...

responsibilities

population, that we are aware of our

towards the community; that we are fully communicating

local anxieties to the governments

and

enterprises

concerned; and that all possible is being done to inform

and reassure Hong Kong people.