SECRET
SECRET
FM PEKING
TO DESKBY 05140OZ F C O
TELNO 167
OF 0512O6Z FEBRUARY 90
INFO DESKBY 05140OZ HONG KONG
INFO IMMEDIATE UKREP JLG HONG KONG
105205
MDHIAN 5298
8
TOP COPY Q DIST 7
HKB 026/12
RECEIV” TMN REGISTRY
15 FEB 1990
PERSONAL FOR MCLAREN, AUSS.
HONG KONG PERSONAL FOR GOVERNOR.
UKREP JLG HONG KONG PERSONAL FOR GALSWORTHY.
VISIT OF DR OWEN TO PEKING.
DES
INDEX
1. VICE PREMIER WU XUEQIAN SAW DR OWEN FOR ABOUT AN HOUR AND A QUARTER ON THE EVENING OF 5 FEBRUARY. I ATTENDED FOR THE SAKE OF SPEED, BECAUSE OF PRESSURE OF TIME THIS PARTICULAR DAY, I AM SENDING ONLY SELECTED MAIN POINTS. I SHALL SEND A FULLER RECORD AS SOON AS I CAN.
2. THE WHOLE TIME WAS SPENT DISCUSSING HONG KONG.
3. DR OWEN EXPRESSED HIS WORRY ABOUT SINO-BRITISH RELATIONS. HE APPRECIATED THE EFFORTS WHICH THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAD MADE. WHEN HE HAD BEEN FOREIGN SECRETARY, DESPITE HIS OWN PERSONAL ATTACHMENT TO DEMOCRACY, HE HAD QUITE DELIBERATELY NOT INTRODUCED DEMOCRACY AT THAT TIME INTO HONG KONG. BUT THE SITUATION WAS NOW DIFFERENT. HE THEN DESCRIBED THE PRESSURES UPON THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO ACT UNILATERALLY OVER THE INTRODUCTION OF DIRECTLY ELECTED SEATS TO THE LEGISLATURE. HE HAD PUT THE TENTATIVE VIEW TO LI PENG THAT THE CHINESE SIDE MIGHT MOVE FROM 24 SEATS IN 1999 TO THE SAME NUMBER OF SEATS IN 1997. SINCE THEN, HOWEVER, HE HAD HAD SEVERAL DISCUSSIONS IN PEKING WHICH HAD LED HIM TO SEE THAT THIS WOULD BE DIFFICULT FOR THE CHINESE. HE HAD, THEREFORE, BEEN GIVING SOME HARD THOUGHT TO A DIFFERENT FRAMEWORK WITHIN WHICH THERE MIGHT BE CONCESSIONS ON BOTH SIDES. HE THEN DEVELOPED A SCHEME WHICH INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING THREE ELEMENTS :
A) BRITAIN MIGHT DECLARE THAT THE MAJOR ECONOMIC PROJECTS IN HONG KONG (PADS) SHOULD BE SEEN AS JOINT PROJECTS, OFFERING CHINA POSITIONS IN MANAGEMENT AT A HIGH LEVEL. THE WORLD WOULD BE ENCOURAGED BY THIS ACT OF COOPERATION.
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