TNAG-2732-FCO40-3938-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-1993 — Page 154

VENG

MOUSE MJH3

SECRET

4

As mentioned above we do not share your conclusion that the balance is in favour of talks. The

following are points we would like to see included in this paragraph:

(i)

(ii)

(111)

(iv)

Paragraph 11

The balance of advantage is not in favour of talks because the prospect of a satisfactory conclusion is minimal.

Expectations will be raised if we enter into talka only to be dashed more cruelly later on. We have to take account of the current mood in the community for talks, but we should do so by demonstrating that we have tried to re-engage the Chinese without abandoning our principles on Hong Kong representation.

The Chinese reaction to our introducing the Bill into LegCo now will be as nothing compared to their likely reaction if we break off talks and introduce the Bill at that stage.

The fact that we have entered into talks and then abandoned them would make things much worse from the Chinese standpoint.

blast from

Or

If talks failed, we would face the dilemma of what draft Bill to put into LegCo (ie. the original proposals blast from CRC; a watered down version liberals). There would even be the risk, after the community had been softened up by China for a further few months, that LegCo would tell us to try harder and send us back to re-engage in talks.

Replace the fourth sentence with the following: "As noted above, we see few attractions in talks even though the community want them. The Chinese will string us along if they start and the likelihood of introducing and passing legislation before the summer recess will be small. The authority and credibility of the HKG will suffer the longer we are locked into talks and unable to introduce legislation into LegCo. But whether or not talks take place,.

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SECRET