TNAG-2660-FCO40-3856-Future-of-Hong-Kong-British-Consulate-General-1992 — Page 37

18 June 1992

CONFIDENTIAL

Foreign & Commonwealth

Office

F

87

London SWIA 2AH

Lord Wilson of Tillyorn GCMG

Government House

HONG KONG

22/6.

Mr. Woodhou

pa.

Der Davil,

HKD 406/1

RESIDENCE OF FUTURE BRITISH CONSUL-GENERAL

1876

Thank you for your letter of 25 May, addressed to

Andrew Burns.

I

We are grateful for the effort which has gone into

devising a possible package solution to this problem. take your point that a package on these lines would have

a better chance of being accepted in ExCo and Finance

Committee than an arrangement whereby HMG simply took

over Headquarters House or another property.

As you say, the key is what attitude the Chinese

would take. On that, I fear our assessment of the

prospects for an arrangement involving Headquarters

House is a good deal more gloomy than yours. We see no prospect of the Chinese military being persuaded to relinquish Headquarters House. They will not be

attracted by the idea that the PLA Commander should be

housed in Stanley, or swayed by arguments for this on

grounds of security. Tony Galsworthy's letter of 2 June,

with which I agree, sets out these considerations very

clearly. It would also be very helpful to have Robin

McLaren's view: I am copying the papers to him (and also to Stephen Day, to ensure he is in the picture).

CONFIDENTIAL