TNAG-2756-FCO40-3973-Hong-Kong-Business-Works-Conference--London-address-by-John-1993 — Page 39

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1500 words or less, incorporating ITI comments, by 18 October

HONG KONG WORKS CONFERENCE, WEDNESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 1993

(14)

Educh The

Thank you for your letter of 29 September about the proposed speech by the Prime Minister to this conference. This will be a high-powered occasion, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Government and the Institute of Directors. It is one of the centre-pieces of the Governor's visit to the UK during that week.

We have considered again whether it makes sense in policy terms for the Prime Minister to be giving a speech on Hong Kong at that time. Our advice is that the Prime Minister should go ahead with the speech. The Governor agrees.

The talks with China on Hong Kong's electoral arrangements could well, as you suggest, by then be approaching the crunch point. Coincidentally, an OPD(K) meeting has been arranged later on the morning of 10 November to consider Hong Kong policy. However delicately poised the talks may be, we do not believe that this should preclude the Prime Minister from making a speech. He would need to refer briefly to the state of play on the talks, including a firm statement of support for the Governor. We would need to fine-tune this much nearer the time (for that

we share your view that the organisers should not be promised a copy of the Prime Minister's speech before the event).

However, we suggest that the main objective of the speech should be to pick up the theme from the Prime Minister's Tokyo speech of a higher priority for Asia in Britain's foreign policy, and to apply this to the case of Hong Kong. The Prime Minister could describe the importance of Hong Kong now and in the future as a gateway for British business into Southern China and the wider region (picking up the points made to you at the Hong Kong Association lunch). He could underline Britain's commitment to maintaining a high level of support for British business in Hong Kong post-1997, referring to our new Consulate-General (on which we are spending some £27 million) and to the British Chamber of Commerce which we are supporting. He might also touch on Britain's attractiveness as a source of inward investment from Hong

Kong.