Redacted
under FOI
16
CONFIDENTIAL
exemption 27(1)
(224
056435 MDHIAN 9952
CONFIDENTIAL
FM PEKING
F CO
TO IMMEDIATE F C O
TENO 1838
OF 160606Z OCTOBER 89
HKC.D62/1
INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
(223)
HONG KONG TELNO 343.
TOP COPY
Q DIST ?
CHIEF SECRETARY'S PRESS CONFERENCE:
DEFENCE AND PUBLIC ORDER: RELOCATION OF HMS TAMAR.
1. WE HAVE NOW SEEN ONE OF THE REPORTS REFERRED TO IN PARA 4 OF I UR, WHICH IS THE LEAD STORY IN ''THE HONG KONG STANDARD'' OF 13 OCTOBER. IT USES SIR D. FORD'S ANNOUNCEMENT AS A BASIS FOR A DETAILED REVIEW OF THE DEFENCE LANDS ISSUE, HIGHLIGHTING HIS STATEMENT ON THE MOVE OF THE NAVAL BASIN TO STONECUTTERS ISLAND BY 1992 AND CONCLUDING THAT THIS WILL ''BLOCK CHINA'S PLANS TO ESTABLISH A NAVAL PRESENCE AT THE PRIME CENTRAL SITE AFTER 1997'' THE ARTICLE ALSO QUOTES:
'A WELL-PLACED SOURCE AS SAYING THAT CHINA HAD BEEN TOLD OF THE MOVE OF THE NAVAL BASE BUT HAD NOT AGREED:
A JOINT FORCES SPOKESMAN AS CONFIRMING DETAILS OF THE RN'S MOVE TO STONECUTTERS, AND ADDING THAT THE BASE **HAD TO BE MOVED TO MAKE THE 70-HECTARE RECLAMATION PROJECT VIABLE'';
A **SOURCE CLOSE TO THE BRITISH SIDE OF THE JLG' AS SAYING THAT THE CHINESE COULD ASK FOR AN ALTERNATIVE POST-1997 NAVAL BASE IF THEY WISHED BUT THAT ''AFTER SEPTEMBER'' (INTERPRETED BY THE NEWSPAPER AS A REFERENCE TO CHINA'S REFUSAL TO FOREGO THE STATIONING OF TROOPS) ''WE WILL VIEW THE MATTER CAREFULLY''.
2. AS YOU MAY IMAGINE, I AM CONCERNED ON MORE THAN ONE GROUND ABOUT THE WAY THIS HAS COME OUT. FIRST, THE FORM OF THE ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT - WHICH CATEGORICALLY CONFIRMED THE FILLING IN AND MOVE OF THE NAVAL BASIN WITHOUT ADDING THE COUNTER-BALANCING POINT THAT THE SITE OF ANY FUTURE BASE WAS NOT PREJUDICED - DOES NOT SEEM WHOLLY IN LINE WITH WHAT WAS AGREED ABOUT PUBLIC HANDLING IN A NUMBER OF TELEGRAMS RESTING WITH HONG KONG TELNO 3145 TO F C 0,
THE COMMENTS WHICH
OTHER HONG KONG SPOKESMEN ARE ALLEGED TO HAVE MADE IN THE
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PAGE CONFIDENTIAL
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