NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
G
SECRET
have received no reply from him.
Fortunately,
neither the BBC nor Reuters has pursued the matter
and it is unlikely that they will now do sa, In
we the circumstances, I do not think it worthwhile
for the
drop:
pursuing the point further with the Governor,
-particularly since he will be leaving the Colony
on retirement within the next 10 day
"gand
how
For & Frattach A selection of cuttings from Hong Kong
is attachex
newspapers which show the manner in which the issue
was publicly presented and which give some indication
of public reaction. The ost sensible comment
comes from the "Star" newspaper which is normally Hlinea
rting)
wort to indulge in somewhat sensational reporting, 8. The question now arises of whether a report should
be made to the Defence and Overseas Policy Committee
informing them that action on their decision of
23 July has been successfully completed. I do not
think it necessary for any formal memorandum to be
put to the Committee, but both the Treasury and the
Ministry of Defence, at the official level, would
support a proposal that the Foreign & Commonwealth
Secretary should address a personal minute to the
Prime Minister informing him of the successful
outcome to the matter. A draft is attached for this
purpose. It seems unnecessary to mention to the
Prime Minister the slight modification which we
accepted to one of the conditions to be attached to
the contribution as approved by the Defence & Overseas
Policy Committee. The reasons for this modification
were fully explained in my submission of 23 September.
3. SECRET