TNAG-2769-FCO40-3986-Hong-Kong-and-the-media-interviews--press-briefings-and-the--1994 — Page 79

pa.

Medra

UNCLASSIFIED

COP COPY

174217 MDHOAN 2549

'ST ? /

218

UNCLASSIFIED

FM FCO

TO DESKBY 220100Z HONG KONG

TELNO 1084

OF 211308Z DECEMBER 93

KKB 301/1

ISTRY

1903

PERSONAL FOR LLEWELLYN FROM RICKETTS, HKD

YOUR LETTER OF 21 DECEMBER: THE SPECTATOR

Miss Gayden 122/12

for

P: milla

artiell

DRAFT ARTICLE BY THE GOVERNOR FOR

1. Thanks for letting us see the text of this article. We thought that it was very good. The only passage on which we have reservations is the last two sentences of para 15. In the spirit of maintaining our calm and reasonable public face, we would prefer to delete the furious'' and also the final sentence. The point is already made effectively without suggesting directly that the Chinese may intend to circumvent the rule of Law.

2. One other thought. You might think it useful to include quotations from former Ministers to make the point that the gradual development of democracy has been a constant in British policy since 1984. You could do this by adding before the final sentence in para 12 something on the following lines the gradual development of democracy in Hong Kong has been a consistent aim of the British Government since 1984. As Richard Luce put it in the House of Commons in December that year: all fully accept that we should build up a firmly-based democratic administration in Hong Kong in the years between now and 1997''. Or as Geoffrey Howe expressed it in 1989'' We have always sought to develop representative government in line with the wishes of the community as a whole and to ensure that what is achieved under British administration is firm and durable''.

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