CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 1350
CONFIDENTIAL
243/1
RICER
93
OF 18123OZ AUGUST 93
TOP COPY Ø DIST?
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING, WASHINGTON, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
©
162725
MDHIAN 2182
5
YOUR TELNO 762: HAN DONGFANG.
SUMMARY.
1.
WE SPEAK AS AGREED TO NCNA ABOUT EXPULSION OF HAN DONGFANG AND URGE CHINA TO TAKE HIM BACK. NCNA REJECT OUR APPROACH AS AN ATTEMPT TO INFRINGE CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY. PROBABLY LITTLE CHANCE OF AN EARLY CHINESE DECISION TO ALLOW HAN BACK, BUT THE DOOR MAY YET OPEN ONCE THE INTERNATIONAL CONSEQUENCES SINK IN.
DETAIL.
2.
WE SPOKE ALONG THE LINES AGREED TO THE ACTING HEAD OF THE NCNA FOREIGN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT. ACTING POLITICAL ADVISER TOOK YANG THROUGH A SPEAKING NOTE (TEXT FOLLOWS BY FAX TO PEKING AND MORRIS, HKD) BASED ON THE POINTS COVERED IN TUR, OUR TELNO 1340 AND YOUR TELNO 759. SPEAKING PERSONALLY, HE ALSO WONDERED WHETHER CHINA HAD FULLY CONSIDERED THE EFFECT OF HAN'S EXPULSION ON ITS INTERNATIONAL IMAGE, FOR EXAMPLE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 2000 OLYMPICS. ADDITIONALLY, CHINESE LEADERS HAD MADE STATEMENTS ENCOURAGING THOSE WHO HAD LEFT CHINA SINCE 1989 TO RETURN: MIGHT NOT SUCH PEOPLE CONCLUDE FROM HAN'S TREATMENT THAT THEY WOULD NOT AFTER ALL BE WELCOME QUERY. ASHTON ALSO ASKED WHAT CHINA'S OWN REACTION WOULD BE IF A NEIGHBOURING STATE HAD DEPOSITED ONE OF ITS OWN NATIONALS ACROSS THE BORDER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WITH NO WARNING.
3.
YANG'S RESPONSE WAS UNCOMPROMISING. HE REJECTED WHAT HE
DESCRIBED AS OUR 'ACCUSATIONS'. HAN'S EXPULSION, AND CHINA'S REFUSAL TO LET HIM BACK IN, WERE MATTERS OF CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY, CHINA WOULD NOT ALLOW OTHERS TO INTERFERE IN ITS INTERNAL AFFAIRS. OUR APPROACH WAS AN ATTEMPT TO DO SO. HAN HAD, WHILE OVERSEAS, ENGAGED IN SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES. HIS PRESENCE IN CHINA HAD BEEN A THREAT TO CHINESE NATIONAL SECURITY.
4.
IN THE UPRODUCTIVE DISCUSSION THAT FOLLOWED, WE EMPHASISED
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