TNAG-2625-FCO40-3816-Visit-by-Douglas-Hurd--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-and-Co-1992 — Page 103

-8-

not easily eradicated. The events of 1989; the massacre in Peking; and the reaction to it in Hong Kong (including a previously unheard of willingness by substantial numbers in Hong Kong to involve themselves in the politics of China), all added to suspicions on both sides at a time when we were slowly but steadily making progress in building up mutual trust and a pragmatic approach to the transfer of sovereignty.

More

19. Chinese involvement in Hong Kong will inevitably increase over the next few years. people here will seek to build up stronger ties with China, knowing that the present administration will soon end. In dealing with this, we should seek to distinguish between what is natural and desirable including increased contact at all levels both outside and within the government - and what is undesirable. In the second category a distinction can be made between what can and cannot be

achieved.

We need to be realistic. In some areas we have to be prepared to disregard Chinese complaints and worries and do what we think is right for Hong Kong, putting up with a public row if necessary in the process. But, in other areas, we should be prepared to accept the logic of China's ability to make futile what we might wish to do. A case in point will be the provisions of the Basic Law on the composition of the Legislative Council in 1997. The Chinese are not going to alter what is laid down about the number of directly elected seats. We should ask ourselves whether it will really be in Hong Kong's interest to try to get this number changed, or to set up a Legislative Council in the 1995 elections which would be pulled down two years later. I do not believe it would.

20. There will be other political battles to be fought with China over the next five years. They are inevitable if Hong Kong's essential autonomy is to be preserved and arrangements are to be put in place which will genuinely enable Hong Kong to flourish after 1997. But we must choose our battlefields with care and select ground on which we can hope to win.

21.

Handling the political relationship with China over the next five years will be a complex task. That should not however obscure the very real prospects of a successful Hong Kong stretching well beyond 1997. Hopes for the future centre on the economic role Hong Kong can play in relation to Southern China. For the last 5 years the economy