TNAG-2277-FCO40-3276-Hong-Kong-and-the-media-1991 — Page 49

23 October 1991

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

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Andrew Wood Esq CMG

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LOBBYING ON HONG KONG POLITICAL ISSUES IN THE US

1.

One of the recurrent problems in dealing with Hong Kong here is that the British (and US) media present such a one-sided view of political developments in the territory.

2.

It was ever thus, but a recent case in point more clear cut than most has been the treatment of the elections and their aftermath. No one would want to deny Martin Lee credit

But the international media has been feeding out of his hand, and the fact that he can place an article in The Independent or the New York Times without any trouble means that his views feed directly into the

for his success.

Parliamentary/Congressional bloodstream. Meanwhile the Hong Kong press have been taking a much more nuancé line, putting the Martin Lee phenomenon into perspective, and recognising that other strands of opinion exist. But this more balanced view seldom percolates to the international press.

3. I am writing to you now because when the Governor of Hong Kong was over here last week he and the Secretary of State discussed what could be done about this and one of the ideas that came up related to the US. The Secretary of State wondered whether it would be possible to do more in Washington to get our views on Hong Kong across both in the media and on the Hill. We appreciate the hard work which we know Stephen Pattison already puts in on this front (and no doubt Richard Ralph has Hong Kong on his slate as he does his rounds of the Hill).

4. The model in the Secretary of State's mind was the highly effective mechanism which has been put in place over the years to deal with Northern Ireland issues in the US. Clearly we would not be thinking of devoting anything like those resources to Hong Kong issues. But it may be that some of the techniques of quick reaction to a breaking story, and the mobilisation of authoritative commentators, could be applicable to the Hong Kong context. The success of the Embassy and BIS in turning round some of the American press on the Vietnamese Migrants issue shows how determined lobbying

KGBABH/CC

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL