17 August 1990
The Earl of Caithness
Minister of State
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RECEIVED IN
1.
SCP 1990
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He saw them.
Conservatives_Abroad
Conservatives
Fo
MKD
Mr Paul, HK
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(VIDIT FILE)
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To discuss with hord Caithness o
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Foreign and Commonwealth Office
september.
London SW1A 2AH
GG
UNITED KINGDOM
Dear Lord Caithness,
ps/hord Critters
Mi Lidingtow
Mr Fraser Mr Buns
Joxere Cour (is / word Critters)
First, on behalf of UK Conservatives Abroad (Hong Kong), I should congratulate you on your recent appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for Hong Kong. I am sure you will find the job challenging and interesting!
I understand that you are planning to visit Hong Kong for a week in late September. I very much hope that some time can be found in your obviously busy schedule for you to meet Conservatives Abroad in Hong Kong. We now number approaching 200, and we have previously entertained your two immediate predecessors at a cocktail reception, typically 6:00p.m. to 7:30p.m. I hope we can do likewise for you.
If I can make one or two personal observations on the current political situation in Hong Kong, I expect that one of the first things you will notice when you visit Hong Kong is the very wide range of views, from utter pessimism to cautious optimism. Even within Conservatives Abroad, we see such a range of views, and individuals' perception of the British Government's performance over Hong Kong is typically a direct reflection of their view of the future. The pessimists typically think the Government's performance is poor (or worse), the cautious optimists (and I am one) think the Government has made performed creditably in a situation where there are regrettably no easy answers.
A particular problem with Hong Kong is the political naivety of many of the people, including the upcoming local politicians.
Too many people of influence (e.g. in the media) see things in black and white. Just one example it seems to me (and several others in
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Conservatives Abroad) that in the 'one country, two systems' solution, not only is it invalid for the PRC to try to upset the one system applicable to Hong Kong, it is equally invalid for Hong Kong to try to upset the other system applicable to the PRC. I am sure that subversion of their system from Hong Kong is very high on the
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UNITED KINGDOM CONSERVATIVES ABROAD (HONG KONG) Registered Office: 12th Floor, 11 Duddell Street, Hong Kong.
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