TNAG-2450-FCO40-3567-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-1992 — Page 36

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From the Private Secretary

CONFIDENTIAL

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10 DOWNING STREET

Dear Richard,

LONDON SWIA 2AA

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HONG KONG

The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary had a word yesterday evening about Hong Kong and the possible meeting of OPD (K) next Tuesday 15 September.

The Foreign Secretary described Mr. Patten's

constitutional proposals. The Prime Minister said that their full implications had not been clear to him from the letter which you sent and he would need to study the paper which the Foreign Secretary was circulating. The Prime Minister thought that the proposals sounded quite controversial and that it would be difficult not to have a meeting.

The Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister agreed that, once Mr. Patten had announced his proposals publicly he could not back off them in the face of Chinese pressure. He would need one or two minor, undeclared, points which he could trade in discussion. The Prime Minister agreed that Mr. Patten should not pursue in detail our wish for more directly elected seats in 1995 but he would need to tell the Chinese that we were intending to pursue the matter. That might make it easier tactically to get the Chinese to accept our other proposals.

I had a telephone call last night from Edward Llewellyn in Hong Kong. He said that the Governor had been told that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary had been meeting to discuss this issue and he wanted to know the outcome. I said that no decision had been taken but the Prime Minister's initial reaction had been that a meeting probably would be desirable. I had another telephone call from Edward Llewellyn this morning to say that the Governor would be perfectly happy to come over to a meeting but would like to know as soon as possible.

After consulting the Foreign Secretary, I had a word with the Prime Minister who has decided that OPD (K) should go ahead next Tuesday. The Prime Minister would like to meet Mr. Patten's concerns by having no announcement of the meeting before or after. I have therefore agreed with Edward Llewellyn that Hong Kong will say that, after two months in

CONFIDENTIAL