TNAG-2275-FCO40-3274-Hong-Kong-and-the-media-1991 — Page 59

Mr Coxla

Ms Mafir for 1113.

Mark

MS S

Copy of Xzdia

RM 17

Back to me

pls-p.w

RESTRICTED COVERING CONFIDENTIAL

Нивз зар

FROM:

R J T McLaren

кр

DATE:

مجھے

Cc:

8 March 1991

Mr Cornish, News Dept Mr Davies, FED Miss Marsden, HKD Mr Cooper, Policy

Planning Staff

Mr Bickham, Special

Advisers

129

Mr Burns

HONG KONG:

1.

RELATIONS WITH THE PRESS

As you know, Mr Ronald Spark of "The Sun" has gone to Hong Kong (and Thailand) for a visit to bring himself up to date. With News Department's encouragement, I offered to see him, having done so before an earlier visit. He invited me

to lunch on 6 March.

2. On the future of Hong Kong Mr Spark described himself as oscillating. between the view that the Foreign Office had done a good job and achieved the best attainable outcome, and the alternative thesis (propounded by the Wall Street Journal among others) that we had approached the problem in quite the wrong way. He wanted to test out some of the arguments supporting the latter view so we went over such questions as whether Hong Kong Island and Kowloon could have been viable on their own if we had refused to hand them back and whether the 1997 date could have been ignored, given that the Chinese never accepted the validity of any of the 19th century treaties by which Chinese territory was ceded or leased to foreign powers.

3. We discussed possible developments in Chinese politics. Mr Spark said that he was not convinced that the Tiananmen events were as simple as they had been described in the press: not all the demonstrators had been students, and the Chinese authorities had had to do something about the prolonged paralysis of the centre of their capital city.

4.

Mr Spark displayed a similarly robust view about the advocates of more and faster democracy in Hong Kong. He made it clear that he was not greatly impressed by Martin Lee. explained where matters stood over the September Legislative Council elections.

5. Mr Spark will be seeing quite a few people in Hong Kong, including, in the Governor's absence, Sir David Ford. Depending on what impressions he comes away with I think he could be an ally over the Secretary of State's visit to

RM3ABA

RESTRICTED COVERING CONFIDENTIAL