TNAG-2494-FCO40-3626-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-Chinese-reac-1992 — Page 27

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FM PEKING

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELNO 1725

OF 11042OZ DECEMBER 92

нас

012/4

154461 MDHIAN 1925

ла Chuele

recutius.

INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, BTC HONG KONG, ACTOR

CALL BY SIR MICHAEL PALLISER ON VICE-PREMIER ZHU RONGJI, 10 DECEMBER: HONG KONG

SUMMARY

1.

FIRM RESTATEMENT BY ZHU RONGJI OF THE CHINESE POSITION ON THE GOVERNOR'S CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS. PRESUMABLY INTENDED AS A WARNING TO BRITISH BUSINESS.

DETAIL

2. SIR M PALLISER PAID A HALF HOUR CALL ON VICE-PREMIER ZHU RONGJI ON 11 DECEMBER DURING HIS INTRODUCTORY VISIT TO PEKING AS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE CHINA-BRITAIN TRADE GROUP. HE HAD BEEN ZHU'S HOST AT A CBTG DINNER DURING THE VICE-PREMIER'S RECENT VISIT TO LONDON. I WAS PRESENT AT THE MEETING TOGETHER WITH THE ACTING COMMERCIAL COUNSELLOR AND BEYER (CBTG).

3.

AFTER

ZHU TOOK THE INITIATIVE IN RAISING HONG KONG. RESPONDING IN POSITIVE TERMS TO A QUESTION FROM SIR M PALLISER ABOUT HIS IMPRESSIONS OF HIS VISIT TO BRITAIN, ZHU SAID THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER ASPECT, HONG KONG. THIS WAS NOT A TOPIC HE HAD INTENDED TO DISCUSS IN LONDON, BUT IT HAD BEEN RAISED WITH HIM BY YOU AND THE PRIME MINISTER IN YOUR TALKS WITH HIM AND HE HAD HAD TO DEVOTE SOME TIME TO IT. THE POSITIONS OF THE TWO SIDES REMAINED QUITE FAR APART BUT ZHU FELT THAT AS A RESULT OF HIS DISCUSSIONS THE BRITISH SIDE NOW KNEW THE CHINESE POSITION BETTER. AS AN EXAMPLE, ZHU SAID THAT YOU AND THE PRIME MINISTER HAD BOTH MAINTAINED THAT BRITISH POLICY ON HONG KONG HAD NOT CHANGED. HAD POINTED OUT THAT THERE HAD IN FACT BEEN BIG CHANGES. THIS WAS RECOGNISED BY HONG KONG PEOPLE LIKE ALLEN LEE AND BY THE PRESS AS WELL AS BY THE CHINESE SIDE.

ZHU

4. ZHU SAID THAT THESE BIG CHANGES IN BRITISH POLICY HAD BEEN MADE WITHOUT CONSULTATION WITH THE CHINESE SIDE, IN VIOLATION OF THE JOINT DECLARATION. YOU AND THE PRIME MINISTER HAD TOLD ZHU

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