19th March 1993
ROBERT ADLEY, Mp
1.A,k
2. HKD for advice and draft reply pl
by
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SWIA OA A
30 March.
f
Ps
Psl M. Goodlad
Psl Pus
Sir J Gles
Mr. Hum
Special Ads
FED
ди
27/2
M
Den Doylen Двува
HONG KONG
It will be neither a secret nor a surprise to you to know that I am deeply concerned about what is going on. After years of dedicated work by officials in your office, the whole basis of our relationship with China over Hong Kong appears to have exploded in our faces. I cannot believe that the deterioration in the relationship is an act of deliberate policy by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
In contemplating the causes of the problem, I do not, of course, discount the intransigence of certain people in Beijing. I think Li Peng's speech a couple of days ago was thoroughly unhelpful. What worries me, however, is that recent events in Hong Kong appear to have played into the hands of those who, in their hearts, probably resent the 'one country two systems' solution which emerged from the '84 Agreement.
It would seem that one of the following three explanations must be correct:-
a)
b)
matters.
Chris Patten went to Hong Kong at about the time of our presidency of the Community. Much of the time you and your officials and colleagues were engrossed in European Chris Patten was left to establish his own position in Hong Kong and did not, frankly, pay sufficient attention to comprehending the historic context within which the '84 Agreement was concluded. This has resulted in his misunderstanding of the position, which has led to the present hiatus.
When John Major became Prime Minister, he decided fundamentally to change policy on China and Hong Kong. Part of this policy change involved a complete reappraisal of the '84 Agreement. The consequences of this policy were calculated and the inevitable problems were considered to be a price worth paying - if I may use a phrase which has found its way into the Westminster lexicon of late.
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