SPIT EMB WASHINTON I
TUE 04 MAY 93 20:16
P6.09
CONFIDENTIAL
be helpful.
15.
Mr. Wharton asked for the Governor's assessment of the recent Taiwan-PRC discussions in Singapore. The Governor said that he did not have any specific insights to offer. He generally welcomed the fact that the discussions were taking place but pointed out that the main read-across to the Hong Kong situation was that Taiwan would be watching the way PRC pursued the implementation of the Joint Declaration in Hong Kong in determining how fruitful its negotiations with China were likely to be.
16.
The Governor gave an account of where matters stood in discussions with China on electoral arrangements for 1994/95. Two rounds of talks had taken place so far. They had been both predictable and unpredictable. The predictable part was the relentless Chinese attempt to get the British side to agree to series of principled positions before starting to talk about any practical issues. Less predictable was that, so far, the Chinese had not deployed arguments over quite such a wide range of issues as we had feared. They had in effect conceded that there were only really three or four main points of real difference between the two sides. This meant that if they chose to do so, it would be possible to move from principles to practical issues very quickly. What we also had not predicted was that the atmosphere of the talks to date had been reasonably low-key. There had been no histrionics. This could reflect`a concern to keep the temperature low so as not to attract the interest of international observers such as the U.S., with the inevitable read-across to MFN. It cou'd also mean that they were genuine in wanting to secure some kind ot agreement.
17. The Governor said that the Chinese side had passed our negotiating team a draft paper of principles for us to sign before moving to the discussion of detailed arrangements. The draft had been unacceptable and we did not propose to spend any more time on an exercise designed to interpret history. Douglas Hurd would probably be writing to Qian Qichen soon, urging progress.
18. The Governor explained that there were three big issues on which it would be very difficult to secure agreement, namely the election committee, functional constituencies and
and the through train. One of the constraints facing the HMG/HKG side was that the community was tiring of the argument. It had contradictory aims: a quiet life, more democracy and not giving way apparently
to China. It was used to a situation where it could comfort itself by denouncing Britain for letting Hong Kong down. It was less comfortable and less resilient in a situation where Britain appeared determined not to do so. Added to that was the anxiety of the business community over the destablising nature of the argument with China. All this meant that it would be difficult to walk way from the negotiating table without a settlement; and this in turn
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