RESTRICTED
FM SINGAPORE
TO TELELETTER FCO
TELELETTER 020/1
OF 280356Z
JANUARY 93
AND TO TELELETTER HONG KONG
FROM : HR DRAKE, SINGAPORE
RESTRICTED
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HICO 021/2.
RF
08 FEB 1993
SINY
Takwa
DATE : 28TH JANUARY 1993 FOR : BE STEWART, SEAD, FCO COPY : NJ COX, HKD, FCO
POLITICAL ADVISER, HONG KONG
INDL
SINGAPORE VIEWS ON HONG KONG
1. ASIDE FROM THE DENIAL BY LEE KUAN YEW'S PRESS SECRETARY THAT HIS MASTER EVER USED THE WORD CONSPIRACY (ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL 8 JANUARY, SUBSEQUENTLY REHASHED IN THE LOCAL PRESS LATTER ALREADY FAXED TO HKD AND HONG KONG), MEDIA INTEREST HERE IN LEE KUAN YEW/HONG KONG HAS, AT THE TIME OF WRITING, DIED DOWN.
2. HOWEVER, WE SHOULD REPORT THAT PRIME MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG HAS FOR THE FIRST TIME COMMENTED ON THE SUBJECT. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE GERMAN NEWSPAPER HANDELSBLATT, SOME EXTRACTS OF WHICH WERE REPRODUCED HERE (FULL TEXT NOT AVAILABLE), GOH WAS ASKED WHETHER LEE KUAN YEW'S VIEWS REPRESENTED SINGAPOREAN GOVERNMENT POLICY ON THE ISSUE. GOH WAS REPORTED AS REPLYING QUOTE (LEE) WOULD NORMALLY CIRCULATE HIS IMPORTANT SPEECHES TO CABINET MEMBERS. WHILST THEY CONTAINED MAINLY HIS INSIGHTS, MINISTERS GAVE THEIR COMMENTS FREELY. THUS, THE MINISTERS SHARED THE VIEWS HE EXPRESSED UNQUOTE. ON WHETHER HE THOUGHT THERE WAS A WESTERN CONSPIRACY TO DESTABILIZE CHINA, GOH SAID QUOTE IF THE CHINESE BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A WESTERN CONSPIRACY...CHINA IS GOING TO CREATE PROBLEMS OVER THE
POLITICAL REFORMS OF CHRIS PATTEN...SO WHETHER IT IS TRUE OR NOT BECOMES IRRELEVANT. IT'S WHETHER THE CHINESE BELIEVE IT TO BE TRUE
UNQUOTE.
3.
WE WOULD NOT, OF COURSE, EXPECT GOH TO CONTRADICT LEE. BUT HIS REMARKS DO APPEAR RATHER NUANCED, AND PERHAPS REFLECT LESS THAN WHOLEHEARTED ENDORSEMENT OF LEE'S VIEWS.
SIGNED...HOWARD DRAKE.
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