TNAG-2769-FCO40-3986-Hong-Kong-and-the-media-interviews--press-briefings-and-the--1994 — Page 244

}

t

SECRET BEZ

Spa Media 159 Mike Saubter

since

Talks on 1994/95 Elections

"Leaks" since Mid-July 1993

e 8.

3-

[13/5

The note at Annex summarises Hong Kong press articles

mid-July that reported specific details of the talks on

the 1994/95 elections, or the views/intentions of the

two sides. As can be expected, press reports of this nature tended to duplicate each other. Articles which are

identifiably repetitions of other reports are therefore not

included in the annexed note.

2.

A brief analysis on these articles throw up some

interesting points :

HKB 301/1

2 SEP 1993

referred

to "sources

(a) Excluding the SCMP report at number 9, which

in London"/"London

$ources" 10 reports cited Chinese sources or

sources close to the Chinese side, and

13 cited British sources or sources close to

the British side.

! (6)

(b)-

(c)

The HK Economic Journal accounts for 9 out of

the 23 selected reports, followed by SCMP with

4 reports. A roughly equal number of the HK Economic Journal reports cited British and

Chinese sources.

Apparently, none of its

reports was filed from outside Hong Kong.

It is difficult to assess how much of a report

was based on facts or speculation, particularly

in the case of reports on the two sides'

intentions on the way forward.

But it is

possible to identify those reports on facts

about the talks which would not have been

possible without some access to classified

information. These include reports number 5-9,

of these

11-14, 16, 17, 21,

and 22.

13 reports, the HK Economic Journal accounts

for 7.

Put it another way, 7 of the paper's

9 reports seem to have some factual basis.

SECRET ± ±**