TNAG-2716-FCO40-3922-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 51

JPMorgan

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If occasion arises for me to comment on the matter would it be appropriate to say that (as had of course already been made public) whilst you handed a copy of the Governor's proposed address to the Chinese Foreign Minister during the UN Assembly in New York in 1992 - i.e. the printed copy of the speech to the LEGCO a few days before it was actually made - there had been no earlier discussion of the matter either through the Joint Liaison Committee or in Beijing?

You naturally took the opportunity of my question to enlarge more generally on the Hong Kong position. As to the "compatibility" of the proposals with the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law I will only say that discussions with some of the senior lawyers in my House etc leads me to conclude that the better legal view is to the contrary. But I have always stressed that the matter is not one for narrow legalistic points, although alas, these do appeal to the Chinese. My own regret is that these proposals (and I agree that they were clearly expressed as proposals although whether to the LEGCO or to Beijing is possibly unclear) were not first canvassed with the Chinese either through the machinery laid down in annex 11 to the Joint Declaration or directly with Beijing before they were made public with a great flourish of trumpets. However, that is all spilled milk now and I realize that you yourself have on a number of occasions attached great importance to maintaining an understanding between the two governments on Hong Kong's future political structure and to re-establishing the atmosphere of mutual trust: see for instance your messages to the Chinese Foreign Minister of January 18 and February 20 1990 and the paper handed to the Chinese Government Grand Electoral College/ Election Committee. I confess that it is a little difficult to reconcile these with the procedures followed by the Governor. In your answer to my question at Chatham House you stressed that there was nothing to prevent statements of this kind made by the Governor being made without prior submission to the Chinese. No doubt. The doubt is whether such a course is wise. The question now is whether we are taking steps at a high level - i.e. your own or the PM's matter in a conciliatory way with Beijing?

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