TNAG-2119-FCO40-3025-Future-of-Hong-Kong-general-1990 — Page 95

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the future of the place. 44 The closer 1997 approaches, the less

reluctant Britain will be to share power with China and the

opposition of the 'pro-British' elements to Sino-British

cooperation will also mellow. As soon as a basic modus vivendi

between China and Britain can be made, a decent form of allied

authority can take shape.

Once a basic collaborative relationship between China and

Britain can be established, political authority in Hong Kong can

be further enhanced through the joint efforts of the two

governments to groom and promote political leaders, and the

inclusion of these leaders in the allied authority forged by

them. Again this is not easy to achieve as that would involve a

lot of give and take between the two governments who have very

different views as to the qualities of the future leaders of Hong

Kong, particular their targets of allegiance. As a matter of

fact, the complicated and multiple channels of leader recruitment

established by the two governments as a result of their tussle

over the future political system of Hong Kong leave a lot of room

for them to identify and choose the future leaders of the

territory. Nonetheless, the difficulties between them can be

partially overcome by the fact that both governments tend to

prefer leaders with a moderate-conservative inclination. And,

given the moderate-conservative and pragmatic orientation of the

44 Both the elites and the people of Hong Kong would like to see a more cooperative relationship between Britain and China, according to some opinion polls. See South China Morning Post, July 21, 1990, p. 4, November 5, 1990, p. 2, and Ming Pao Daily News, August 1, 1990, p. 4.

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