COZAAF
Mr McLaren
McLaren
HIB Oil,
SECRET
0 8 FEB 1933
!!
1
FROM:
CO Hum 10
DATE:
Hong Kong Department 5 February 1988 5
SECRETARY OF STATE'S MEETING WITH MR EDWARD HEATH: 4 FEBRUARY
1.
Mr Galsworthy has given me an account of the Secretary of, State's conversation with Mr Heath yesterday evening. It covered two issues: representative government and Vietnamese refugees.
Representative Government
2.
The Secretary of State decided that he would brief Mr Heath on Privy Councillor terms and told him precisely what would be in the White Paper. He took him through our exchanges with the Chinese on the question of direct elections and explained the firmness of the Chinese position on the introduction of direct elections in 1988: the Chinese regarded it as a matter of face that the Basic Law should be formally promulgated before any step was taken in Hong Kong to introduce direct elections. The Secretary of State made the point that while we could impose whatever arrangements we wished in Hong Kong in advance of 1997 it would serve no purpose if they were simply dismantled by the Chinese when the Basic Law came into effect.
in 1997.
3.
According to Mr Galsworthy, Mr Heath listened carefully to the explanation and looked thoughtful. But he gave no indication of the line that he would take when he was in Hong Kong. He asked only
about the number of directly elected seats to be introduced: Mr Galsworthy told him 10 out of 66 (in fact the correct figure 10 out of 56). Mr Heath expressed some concern that this proportion
was rather low.
is
Vietnamese Refugees
4.
The Secretary of State spoke equally frankly about the problem of Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong. Resettlement places were
SECRET
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