TNAG-1892-FCO40-2685-Visits-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe-and-by-Douglas-Hurd--Secretaries-1989 — Page 91

G.F. 326

CONFIDENTIAL #3

visit was

2

pointless and meaningless because Sir

Geoffrey did not bring with him any concrete offer,

nor did he bother to listen seriously to views of

the people.

Some cynics said that if the purpose of

the visit were to rub salt into the wound, Sir Geoffrey

had succeeded tremendously. Others said that he

certainly did not need to travel this far to buy

mangoes or visit a market.

Another speculation was

that Mrs. Margaret Thatcher had sent Sir Geoffrey

here as a "whipping boy" for Hong Kong people.

There was, however, a consensus that the

visit was counter-productive in two aspects. Firstly,

it made people feel more pessimistic about the future

of Hong Kong. Secondly, it aroused considerable

anti-British feelings among the people.

The overall reactions can be summarised

as follows:

it was

shameful for the British Government

to evade its moral

responsibility;

the British

and

Government was

constitutional

untrustworthy

because it was only interested in exploiting.

Hong Kong's position for its own long-term

gains in China;

most felt that all hope in

in the fight for

CONFIDENTIAL #3

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