m
ISHITTON I
HED 62 DEC 92 01:05
PG.01
CONFIDENTIAL
1. Copy: Mr Hugh
Mr better, NAD
M
fimilk
FROM : Ambassador
176
Minictor
DATE : 1 December 1992
2/12
C.C
2 M Mamis
While 3tır. Mr Jurners / Miss Booth cc:
3.
M
HONG KONG/CHINA/MFN
1.
3112
2/2
Rv fax
Mr W G Ehrman, Political
Adviser to the
Governor of Hong Kong P Ricketts, Hd/HKD, FCO
cc: Mr Pattison
Winston Lord called in yesterday. Although a Republican, he has quite close links with the Clinton team. He will be visiting Hong Kong on 14 December.
If the Governor can manage hopes to see the Governor.
this, it will be well worth doing.
Не
2. I told Lord about our concerns that even limited withdrawal of MFN from Chinese exports would damage Hong Kong. Lord saw no likelihood that clinton would simply continue the Bush policy towards China. Lord himself believed that Bush had not exerted enough pressure on China over human rights. There were various ways in which this could be manifested. One was to avoid further meetings at head of government level with the Chinese and such mistakes as sending Scowcroft to China shortly after Tiananmen Square.
3. On MFN, Lord agreed that it would be very damaging for Clinton to permit legislation wholly or partially withdrawing MFN for China to be adopted this year. Instead he would be recommending that, whether through legislation or an executive order, the Administration should link future renewal of MFN with the Chinese performance over human rights. He did not favour linking it also to other issues such as weapons proliferation.
4. I said that this would still be a high risk strategy. Lord talked in terms of framing the conditions in such a way as to require only some movement from the Chinese (such as, for example, the "release of prisoners", not the release of all prisoners). Typically, he said, the Chinese did tend to release a few dissidents shortly Lord believed that before each round in the Senate. something could be achieved by this route.
.../5.
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