TNAG-2119-FCO40-3025-Future-of-Hong-Kong-general-1990 — Page 108

From: Sir David Wilson KCMG

香港總督府

bce Mo A. PAUL

PS

GOVERNMENT HOUSE

HONG KONG

22 November 1990

Ore holt,

I was recently given a copy of your strategy paper "Hong Kong and China: The Real Issues" and,

having glanced through it at the time, have now had an opportunity to read it more thoroughly.

I congratulate you on an interesting, unusual and thoughtful analysis. There were some striking points which I found very thought-provoking. I intend to commend the paper to those who take a serious interest in Hong Kong affairs.

In case you issue a revised version, perhaps I could comment on two points in the paper where I fear you have failed to find all the relevant facts. These

are:

i) On the Goddess of Democracy ship incident, you complain that the Government resorted to technicalities in banning its arrival in Hong Kong. Not so. As you will see from the attached extract from a GIS press release on 3 May, I made quite clear what the broad principles involved were;

ii) You refer on the next page of the paper to

the problem of the freedom of speech/Chinese complaints about subversion dichotomy, and say that the Government could afford to surface the issue and discuss it. I agree. As you will see from the second attached group of press quotations, I have done so.

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