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172464 MDHIAN 2815"
4. NOT SURPRISINGLY, THE PEKING CONTROLLED PRESS HAVE POUNCED
ON THIS ANALYSIS. ONE CAN COMMENTARY URGED HONG KONG PEOPLE TO STUDY MR LEE'S WORDS AS HE UNDERSTOOD HONG KONG'S SITUATION WELL. (COMMENT: NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT 'INTERNATIONALISATION' HERE.)
5. THE LOCAL INDEPENDENT PRESS HAVE BEEN CRITICAL, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL IN PARTICULAR SAID SOMEONE GOING TO SINGAPORE AND MAKING SIMILARLY CRITICAL REMARKS ABOUT THAT COUNTRY AND ITS GOVERNMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN THROWN INTO JAIL.
6. WHEN ASKED YESTERDAY (16 DECEMBER) BY THE PRESS FOR MY VIEWS ON MR LEE'S PUBLIC COMMENTS, I RESTRICTED MYSELF TO TWO POINTS. I SAID THAT IN HONG KONG WE HAD A FREE PRESS, AND THAT I WAS NOT PROPOSING THE SORT OF DEMOCRACY THAT ELECTED MR LEE AS SINGAPORE'S FIRST PRIME MINISTER.
COMMENT
7. THIS IS ABOUT AS UNHELPFUL AS IT COULD BE. COMING FROM THIS SOURCE, THE CHINESE WILL TAKE THE THEORY AS GOSPEL. IT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR PARANOID CONVICTION THAT THEY HAVE TO CONTENT WITH A HUGE WESTERN CONSPIRACY RATHER THAN CONSIDER A PACKAGE OF PROPOSALS ON THE DETAIL OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR A LOCAL ELECTION. IT MAKES OUR POSITION SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DIFFICULT, SOMETHING WHICH I ASSUME LEE MUST UNDERSTAND, AND PERHAPS INTENDED, GIVEN HIS CAREFUL REPETITION OF THE THESIS IN THREE DIFFERENT PUBLIC FORA ON SUCCESSIVE DAYS. PRESUMABLY, LEE HAD THREE OBJECTIVES ΤΟ CURRY FAVOUR WITH PEKING, TO EMBARRASS THE U.K., AND TO MAKE LIFE TOUGHER FOR HONG KONG.
8. THIS CONTRAST WITH LEE'S VIEWS LAST OCTOBER, WHEN HE COMMENTED ON MY POLICY SPEECH, SAYING THAT I HAD BEEN VERY IMAGINATIVE ABOUT INCREASING THE DEPTH OF DEMOCRACY', AND THAT MY PROPOSALS
'SLIP INTO THE BLANK SPACES OF THE BASIC LAW AND THE JOINT DECLARATION'. HE DID SAY THEN THAT MY AGENDA WAS MORE LIKE THAT OF A 'NATIONALIST LEADER' THAN A 'DEPARTING COLONIAL GOVERNOR': BUT THERE WAS NO SUGGESTION OF ANY LARGER PLOT. AND I RECALL LEE'S OWN ADVICE TO ME BACK IN JULY: I SHOULD SET OUT MY PARAMETERS AND PRIORITIES CLEARLY, NAIL MY COLOURS TO THE MAST AND BE MARKED BY MY OWN STANDARDS.
9. I SHOULD BE GRATEFUL IF SINGAPORE, AND OTHER POSTS, PARTICULARLY IN THIS REGION, COULD BE INSTRUCTED TO SPEAK TO HOST GOVERNMENTS DRAWING ON THE POINTS IN YOUR HELPFUL TUR. IF THIS THEORY TAKES HOLD IT WILL MAKE OUR LIVES CONSIDERABLY MORE
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