TNAG-2419-FCO40-3521-Hong-Kong-Her-Majesty-s-Overseas-Civil-Service-(HMOCS)-poli-1992 — Page 78

Mr Ricketts

CONFIDENTIAL

Reference

HKA 233/1

13 MAR 199

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HMOCS: HANDLING THE CHINESE

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1. Mr Burns approved the graft telegram attached to my minute of 11 March, which issued as FCO telno 192 to Peking. The Hong Kong and Peking/reactions were interesting. Sir R McLaren (Peking telno 351) argued that we should "defend our principled position robustly" ie that we were informing the Chinese, not consulting them. However, Mr Galsworthy (UKRep JLG telno 82) and the Governor (Hong Kong telno) said that we (they?) did not make the rigid distinction between information and consultation which we implied (although UKRep telnos 80 and 81 had stressed that we would only be informing the Chinese and objected that our draft speaking-note was geared at a consultation: "a different ball game altogether").

2. I think Sir R McLaren's line is dangerously confrontational: if there is a row, we could not ask Ministers to sustain the argument that the definition of "major matters straddling 1997" is purely subjective, and that if our actions are aimed at fulfilling extraneous obligations they cannot be deemed such major matters.

3. I therefore prefer the Hong Kong approach of blurring things a little, ie trying to avoid arguments about consultation principles. Thus in our telno 17 to UKRep JLG last night we said that if the Chinese asked for full consultations Mr Galsworthy should say:

"This is first and foremost a matter between HMG and

members of Her Majesty's service. But we are happy to give the Chinese Government advance information of what we intend. Moreover if the Chinese Government have views on the matter, we are very ready to listen to them".

We thus avoid saying directly whether or not we are in consultations and encourage the Chinese to forget theology and focus on the substance.

4.

The next difficulty is likely to arise if, as seems quite likely, the Chinese revert to say:

(a) we should discuss this in the JLG and put it on the

agenda for the March meeting (or, time being short the June meeting);

(b) HMG should not open consultations with HMOCS officers until we have discussed the subject in the JLG and reached agreement.

CODE 18-77

SISABT

CONFIDENTIAL