CONFIDENTIAL
5 March 1991
НКВ 18212
RECEMER,NEEY
& MAP
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SWIA 2AH
Dear Chance,
Visit by the Foreign Secretary to Hong Kong and China: 19 April 1991
Subject to the Prime Minister's views the
Foreign Secretary plans to visit Hong Kong and perhaps China during the Easter recess. He had hoped to discuss this with the Prime Minister, but the Prime Minister's meeting on Hong Kong, which has now been arranged for 14 March, will really be too late. A decision on whether to include China needs to be taken this week if the arrangements are to be made in time.
As the paper enclosed with my letter of 4 March makes clear, we are at a crucial point in our relations with China over Hong Kong. A key issue is the Hong Kong Government's plan to build a new airport to replace Kai Tak where there is no room for further expansion. Chinese support will be needed if the project is to attract international funding but the Chinese are setting a very high price on their cooperation. It has also become apparent that they are seeking an increasing role for themselves in the management of Hong Kong affairs as 1997 approaches. The Governor has made some useful progress in resolving these and other issues in his talks this week with Lu Ping, the visiting director of the Chinese Government's Hong Kong and Macao Office. But it has become increasingly clear that the Foreign Secretary will need to become personally involved if we are to reach a satisfactory accommodation.
The Foreign Secretary is conscious of the arguments against visiting China now. The British media are likely to be in a critical mood following the recent trials of dissidents in China, the visit here (17-22 March) of the Dalai Lama, and Deng Xiaoping's reported threats about
CONFIDENTIAL
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