The next day Maude announced happily that there was a new atmosphere of mutual understanding over the issue of British passports for Hong Kong people, while Peking issued an unexpected statement saying that the Communists would absolutely refuse to recognise the "worthless bits of paper."
隔天，當他正喜孜孜地宣稱雙方相談甚歡，在港人居英權上，也締結了「互相瞭解的新氣象」的時候，北平卻冷不防地提出嚴正聲明，指責英國發給港人護照系「顛覆行為」，中共絕不承認這批「廢紙不如」的護照。