TNAG-2908-FCO40-4182-Detention-of-Hong-Kong-residents-in-China-1993 — Page 41

CONFIDENTIAL

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INFO IMMEDIATE UKREP JLG HONG KONG

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FOR AMBASSADOR/GOVERNOR FROM HUM, AUSS

REPORT OF LORD HOWE'S MISSION

1.

The report of the Mission which Lord Howe Led to China Last December will very soon be ready for publication.

As you will know from the draft which you have seen, it is a serious and unsensational piece of work, which makes a number of sensible factual recommendations. We have consulted Ministers on the handling of the report. They would like its publication to be given a certain profile, consistent with our policy on human rights in China. There will be an inspired PQ in the House of Lords to announce publication, and also a press conference in the FCO at which Lord Howe will be accompanied by members of his team. Lord Howe will give an advance copy of the report to the Chinese Embassy here. We are also arranging for copies to be sent in advance of publication to Peking, for transmission to the Chinese authorities, and to Hong Kong.

2.

You will shortly receive a telegram with a wider distribution, giving details of our plans for publication and for distribution to foreign governments. In advance of that we need

to submit to Ministers on the exact timing of publication, and I should be grateful for your views. Now that the report is completed Lord Howe is anxious to go ahead quickly with publication, and I do not think Ministers would be happy about undue delay. Obviously we want to make the report available to Parliament well in advance of the summer recess.

3.

Our guess is that the Chinese are likely to react to the report in a fairly resigned way as an unwelcome fact of diplomatic life, without making any particular read-across to the Hong Kong talks. But we cannot be so confident about the reactions of the media and the public here or in Hong Kong. the light of all this we think it would be preferable to avoid publication while a round of talks is in progress, to avoid

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