TNAG-2103-FCO40-2995-Future-of-Hong-Kong-exchanges-with-the-Chinese-on-the-Basic--1990 — Page 120

CONFIDENTIAL

FM PEKING

HKCO12/3

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CONFIDENTIAL

12 MAR 1998

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174146 MDHIAN 8258

TO IMMEDIATE F CO

TELNO 289

SRKCOFF!:

STRY!

PA

Acttun Laxens

OF 230229Z FEBRUARY 90

INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG

HONG KONG TELNOS 680-681.

BASIC LAW: FURTHER ACTION: ARTICLE 24(4).

1. WE SEE NO PROBLEM IN AN INFORMAL APPROACH TO ZHENG WEIRONG AS PROPOSED IN PARA 2 OF FIRST TUR.

2.

WE AGREE WITH THE ASSESSMENT IN PARA 3 OF FIRST T U R. SINCE THE CHINESE HAVE MADE IT EXPLICIT AT BLDC IX THAT THEIR CONCERN IS WITH THE RIGHT OF ABODE OF VIETNAMESE, WE THINK THAT WE SHOULD BROACH THE ISSUE HEAD ON BY INCLUDING THE DEFENSIVE POINTS IN PARA 3 IN THE MAIN BODY OF THE SPEAKING NOTE. THE CHINESE ARE LIKELY TO BE RELUCTANT TO ENTER INTO A LENGTHY DEBATE WITH US OVER AMENDMENTS TO THE FINAL DRAFT BASIC LAW AND WE SHOULD TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY OF GETTING ALL OUR POINTS IN IN ONE GO. IF WE ARE TO RAISE OTHER ISSUES WITH THEM, E.G. ARTICLE 106, WE SHOULD DO SO AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE RAISE ARTICLE 24(4),

3. WE ARE OTHERWISE CONTENT WITH THE TEXT IN SECOND TUR.

4.

IN THE INTERESTS OF SPEED OF CONSIDERATION BY THE CHINESE OF OUR POINTS, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF HONG KONG COULD PREPARE AND FAX TO US A CHINESE TRANSLATION OF THE FINAL TEXT OF OUR SPEAKING NOTE ONCE IT HAS BEEN APPROVED.

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