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Mr Cortazzi
rtąźzi
CONFIDENTIAL
23/2
HONG KONG
1. Sir Yuet Keung Kan called on me today to ask that the term of
office of the present Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, should be
extended beyond October 1977. He developed the arguments for
this eloquently along the lines of the attached Note, which he
left with me.
2. I told Sir Y K Kan that I was much encouraged to know of the
great confidence that Sir M MacLehose enjoyed in Hong Kong: this
was matched by the confidence felt in him by British Ministers.
His achievements in Hong Kong were much valued here. On the
other hand, it was now virtually an immutable rule that members
of the Diplomatic Service should retire at the age of 60.
Obviously
I would report to the Secretary of State the representations made
on behalf of the Unofficial Members by Sir Y K Kan: and he would
not expect me to express a view on the advice which the Secretary
of State might eventually give to The Queen. But I left him under
no possible illusion that an extension of the Governor's term
of office was to be expected. I added that, in any case, the
difficult nature of the post, with all the internal and external
ramifications that he had explained, was well understood in London.
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Cifred 6 HRK 022/3
CONFIDENTIAL
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