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should we consider other channels for getting proper messages through to No 10 (eg Lord Carrington, Mr Purves?).
3.
As I see it, there is a risk that the Prime Minister may be attaching too much weight to the press coverage of Hong Kong in the United Kingdom, which suggests that the democracy issue is the predominant one in Hong Kong at the moment. It might be helpful if the Prime Minister could be made to understand that what really bothers Hong Kong people at the moment is their perception of Britain's lack of commitment to the territory and our alleged insincerity over such issues as Vietnamese boat people, the nationality issue, treatment of Hong Kong travellers, etc. nexus of problems revolving around the Joint Declaration, important though they are, currently take a somewhat lower priority than the "UK/Hong Kong bilateral issues" to which I have just referred. It would be helpful if Ministers, and particularly the Prime Minister, could have this point clearly explained to them.
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ARPawc
AR Paul
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