CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO DESKBY 29130OZ FCO
TELNO 2144
OF 29113OZ JUNE 89
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING
CONFIDENTIAL
4KB 026/20
79 057235
MDHIAN 1287
TOP COPY Q DIST?
SECRETARY OF STATE'S VISIT : HONG KONG MOOD
THE MAN IN THE STREET
1.
EVENTS IN PEKING ARE STILL MAKING A MAJOR EMOTIONAL IMPACT IN
HONG KONG. NOT ONLY ARE THE EVENTS TOO RECENT TO PERMIT A MORE DISPASSIONATE VIEW TO EMERGE, BUT THE IMMEDIACY OF THE MEDIA COVERAGE, THE DEEP SYMPATHY FOR THE STUDENT CAUSE AND THE APPROACH OF 1997 ALL MAKE IT UNLIKELY THAT THE EMOTION WILL SOON DISSIPATE.
2.
ONE MEASURE OF THE PROFUNDITY OF FEELING GENERATED HAS BEEN THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE YOUNG AND THE CONSERVATIVES HAVE BEEN AFFECTED. YOUNG PEOPLE, WHO ONLY A FEW WEEKS AGO WERE IMMUNE FROM THE CONCERNS OF THEIR ELDERS WHO HAD EXPERIENCED EITHER SHANGHAI IN 1949 OR THE
CULTURAL REVOLUTION IN 1967, HAVE BEEN DEEPLY MOVED AND DISILLUSIONED WITH THE CPG. THE CONSERVATIVES, WHO WERE PREVIOUSLY VERY CAUTIOUS ABOUT DEMOCRATISATION HAVE, MORE RECENTLY, MAINTAINED A LOW PROFILE AND HAVE EVEN ASSOCIATED THEMSELVES, ALBEIT UNEASILY, WITH THE EMERGING LIBERAL-LEANING CONSENSUS.
3.
THE GENERAL MOOD OF THE COMMUNITY IS ONE OF LOSS OF CONFIDENCE, ANGER AND CONDEMNATION OF CHINA. BUT THERE IS ALSO A WORRY THAT, BY ITS RESPONSE, HONG KONG HAS ANTAGONISED PEKING AND WILL THEREFORE SUFFER RETRIBUTION EITHER THROUGH THE BASIC LAW OR IN SOME OTHER WAY. SOME WHO TOOK PART IN DEMONSTRATIONS AND SIGNED PETITIONS ARE WORRIED THAT THEY WILL BE SINGLED OUT, MAINLAND STYLE, FOR FUTURE ACTION. THERE HAVE BEEN NO LARGE-SCALE DEMONSTRATIONS SINCE
THE MINI-DISTURBANCE IN KOWLOON ON 7 JUNE. THE CRACK-DOWN IN CHINA
AND A GENERAL FEELING THAT CARE MUST BE TAKEN NOT TO DISRUPT
STABILITY IN HONG KONG ARE BOTH FACTORS IN THIS.
BUSINESSMEN
4.
TRADITIONALLY CONSERVATIVE, THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAS NOT BEEN PROMINENT IN ITS RESPONSE TO EVENTS: BUT INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN
AFFECTED IN THE SAME WAY AS THE REST OF THE POPULATION. BUSINESS
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CONFIDENTIAL
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