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idea which had appeared in the press that this might be seen by the Chinese as a purely internal UK matter. Mr Howell said that Zhou Nan had spoken in in these terms: indeed his colleague Li Ho had gone further, and had told the FAC specifically that the Chinese would have no objection if HMG wanted to make changes in the nationality status of the people of Hong Kong. The PUS replied that in the light of this, he obviously did not propose to tell Mr Howell that these were not Chinese views: but he nevertheless wanted to sound a cautionary note. Mr Howell noted this, but was clearly disinclined not to believe the Chinese views he had heard in Peking.
5.
Mr Howell himself raised the question of accommodation for the future Consulate-General in Hong Kong. He said that the Committee had been surprised to discover that agreement had been reached with the Chinese on the HMS Tamar site apparently without thought being given to the advantages of its retention by us. In retrospect, he thought that HMG might have been guilty of a certain lack of foresight in not dealing with the subject in the context of the Hong Kong Agreement itself. The Committee would want to revert to this subject in their written report. In answer to the PUS's question, Mr Howell said that he thought it unlikely that the Committee would want to pursue the question at the evidence session on 3 May (but the PUS commented to me subsequently that he would nevertheless need a careful brief on the subject in case Mr Howell turns out to be wrong).
6. Finally, Mr Howell said that the Committee had been struck by the realisation that the Basic Law would be in place as soon as next year, ie. seven years before the reversion to China. He would not be surprised if the FAC would want to return to the subject, in, say, 1994, to consider whether the Law remained adequate in the context of rapidly changing circumstances in Hong Kong.
7.
Thanking Mr Howell for this account, the PUS said that he knew that the Secretary of State was looking forward to seeing him at Chevening on 6/7 May, and to hearing about the Committee's visits from him then. Meanwhile, if Mr Howell wanted to see the Secretary of State sooner, he was sure that Sir Geoffrey Howe would do his best to arrange that. Mr Howell noted this with thanks; but the PUS gained the i mpression that he will not in fact be putting in to see the Secretary of State before the Chevening weekend.
Селигмаля.
Geoffrey Adams PS/PUS
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