TNAG-2365-FCO40-3437-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--former-Secretary-of-State-for-Fo-1991 — Page 20

CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL

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Sir Geoffrey Howe's visit to Hong Kong

Sir Geoffrey Howe telephoned the Secretary of State on 2 October following his visit to Hong Kong and made the following points:

he had talked to Martin Lee who had come across as being more calm and less high-handed than Sir Geoffrey had known him on previous occasions. Sir Geoffrey thought that Martin Lee had been shaken by some of the reactions to his recent public utterances;

Sir Geoffrey made a speech in Hong Kong which seemed to have gone down well and the theme of which had been that the people in Hong Kong could not have it both ways if they wished to be insulated from the turmoil in China, then they should not seek to provoke the Chinese by their actions in Hong Kong. In other words, if Hong Kong is to influence China it should do so by example and not by agitation. The Secretary of State would be grateful to see a copy of the speech; could I please have two copies, to send one to Stephen Wall at No 10 who is also interested;

some people in Hong Kong have been worried about the arrangements agreed with the Chinese for appointments to the Final Court of Appeal. They fear that there would only be one truly independent judge and that the three locally appointed judges would necessarily dance to a Chinese tune. Sir Geoffrey said to a few people that perhaps there was scope for appointing to the Court expatriate judges who had been living in Hong Kong and who wouldt

expect to stay in Hong Kong after their tenure; in other words they would be more or less independent. If this idea were accepted, Sir Geoffrey went on to say, then perhaps some good potential judges could be encouraged to move to the colony for a limited period in the expectation, if they did well, that there would be further appointments open to them back in Britain at a senior level after their time in Hong Kong. (This is all fairly sensitive stuff in constitutional terms and so should not, please, be circulated more widely.)

R. H. J. Su

3 October 1991

(RH T Gozney)

CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL