Cory liking Kong 2020, Re T2l. 154
CONFIDENTIAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
22
London SW1
European Integration Dept (E)
N Statham Esq CMG CVO
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22 February 197 dic
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Telephone 01-
Dear Norman,
HONG KONG'S INTERESTS IN EEC CAPITALS
1.
I wrote to you and other EEC posts on 14 February about a tour of European capitals by a senior Hong Kong Government Officer, Nigel Watt, to survey Hong Kong's public relations and information effort.
2. Watt called on me on the 21st at the start of his European tour.
He was accompanied by the Hong Kong Commissioner in London, Teddy Kidd. His ideas are still unformed. He wants to project an inviting image of Hong Kong in Europe, in order to increase sympathy for Hong Kong's problems (especially its commercial ones). He would like to draw on our experience in doing commercial information work on the Continent. effort might be based on the offices of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in Frankfurt and make use of the Council's other offices in Hamburg, Amsterdam and Milan, and possibly also on the Hong Kong Tourist Association in i'aris.
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3. He hoped that the Hong Kong officials could work in close liaison with UK Missions.
4. I said that Britishcofficials would be very willing to help with advice, though they would be unable to take on a significant extra workload. Watt accepted this: the main thing was that his people should have a regular British contact in each place.
5. Watt's concern is evidently as much an information as commercial one. It might therefore be useful if he could talk to information officers as well as commercial sections in the Embassies he is visiting. I should be grateful if you and the other posts concerned could arrange this. Also, as you will have seen from Watt's itinerary, set out in Hong Kong tel No 154, he will be spending much of his time outside capitals. He intends to visit Fvankfurt, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Milan. I said to Watt that he would find it useful if he were to call upon our Consulate-General in these cities. I am, therefore, taking the liberty of sending to the Consuls-General concerned copies of this letter, of my letter of 14 February and of Hong Kong telegram No 154, with the request that they do what they can, within their limited resources, to assist Watt.
6. Watt will be calling on me again at the end of his tour on 29 March by when his ideas should have crystallised to some extent.
CONFIDENTIAL
Yours eve Rodric
(R Q Braithwaite) /Over