TNAG-2735-FCO40-3943-Hong-Kong-role-of-the-Legislative-Council-(LEGCO)-1993 — Page 64

.E, BEIJING CRYPIEK.

HED 29 SEP 93 17:29

PG.03

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Detailed Comments

paras 1-3: Since the substance is dealt with at length in the body of the Address the Governor might want to consider whether the first three paragraphs should be confined to a factual account of the main events. In particular, he might want to look again at sentences 2 and 5 of para 2, and the first sentence of para 3. The digs at the Chinese which they contain do rather stand out.

- para 11: A small point, but we wonder how the last sentence might be interpreted in Hong Kong and by the Chinese. The current wording could be taken to imply difficulty in areas other than the economy,

para 22: We suggest that the final sentence might refer to "the future HK SAR" rather than simply to "Hong Kong".

paras 23-35: We think the passage on the airport makes the case well and in a restrained way. The Chinese won't like it, but too bad.

- para 29: Seen from here, the second sentence of the 1st tiret and the last sentence of the 3rd tiret ram the point home unnecessarily bluntly. If those sentences were omitted the message would still be clear.

- para 123: The first sentence might more tactfully be worded, "...about the future payment of their pensions."

- para 124; We assume that the phrase in the 2nd sentence of this paragraph "explore its views in detail" was chosen advisedly to avoid saying "consult". Since the Chinese brought this matter up for discussion in the JLG I imagine that the Governor has it in mind to ask Alan Paul to inform

is counterpart on the Chinese side of his proposal to establish a pension reserve fund before it is revealed to LegCo. The Chinese always react badly if they think we have omitted the "consultation" they believe to be due to Chem. In this case I do not think it would be enough to flag up the point in a message to Lu Ping covering the full text of the Address in its final form.

pai

*-132; while the Governor would not want to say anyt g specific in his Address about entering into a dialogue with the Chinese on senior civil service appointments is there not a case for making some reference to the need to work with China on these matters as 1997 approaches, without saying that we would "consult" then ?

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