CONFIDENTIAL
QUESTIONS FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE FROM THE SOUTH CHINA
SUNDAY MORNING POST.
Q.1 China has repeatedly said it will not accept Mr
Patten's proposed reforms. Yet they are likely to pass to
Legco, and beyond, unchanged. How do you see this impasse
resolving itself? Has China's hard-line stance on the issue come as a surprise, or was it to be expected at this stage in
the transition, when dealing with a difficult issue such as
the 1995 polls? How much harm has been done to Sino-British
relations by Beijing's attacks of recent months, and do you
share the view of an ex-Foreign Office official that
relations are worse now than at any time since the Cultural
Revolution?
We
A. 1 Of course we regret that we have not yet been able to
resolve our differences with China over Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not the only component in Sino/British relations.
are both permanent members of the UN Security Council, we
have important commercial relations and an active programme
of high level visits in both directions. But Hong Kong looms
very large, so the better our cooperation over Hong Kong the
closer the overall Sino/British relationship will be. We
have made clear all along our commitment to implementing the Joint Declaration in full and our willingness to discuss the
1994/95 electoral arrangements, which are the subject of the
current difficulties, with the Chinese side. We continue to
hope that it will be possible to reach a solution that is
acceptable to all sides; but it would have to provide for
electoral arrangements that are open, fair and acceptable to the people of Hong Kong.
Q.2
What can you do, as Foreign Secretary, to rebuild
Sino-British relations? Has a date or venue been fixed for
meeting Qian Qichen, and will you visit Hong Kong on your way to/from the meeting? Given China's refusal to talk to Mr Patten unless he withdraws his proposals, are you ready to take a more active role, dealing directly with Beijing when
they refuse to talk to the Governor? Is there any chance of
scsmpsos.min JM BRIEF
CONFIDENTIAL
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