Mr Murray
CONFIDENTIAL
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PS/Lord Goronwy-Roberts
HONG KONG: THE TIMING OF THE GOVERNOR'S NEXT VISIT
1. I told the Governor of Hong Kong that Lord Goronwy-Roberts is making tentative plans to visit South East Asia and the Far East later this year and of his intention to go to Hong Kong on one of Flag B these visits. I have now received the Governor's reply. After
taking note of Lord Goronwy-Roberts' plans, he says that he does not plan to make his usual summer visit to the UK on the grounds that "we seem to be in broad agreement" and that Ministers and MPs are likely to be tied up with a particularly hectic Parliamentary session. Instead, the Governor says he plans to come home in November, when he would take some long overdue leave and spend more time in London than he has done on recent visits. If, however, there is anything that Lord Goronwy-Roberts would like to discuss with him, he would gladly make a short visit at any time.
2. For the past couple of years or more the Governor has been home for consultations at intervals of around six months. It would be a change of pattern if nearly a year were to elapse before his next visit. In view of the emphasis in the Planning Paper on the need for more regular consultation between HMG on broad policy matters, it could also be argued that it would be a retrograde step if the Governor were to drop out of the habit of coming home for consulta- tions twice a year.
It is also useful for Ministers to be able to say in answer to critics that they are in regular personal touch
with the Governor.
3.
These considerations point in the direction of our inviting the Governor, subject to the convenience of Ministers, to pay his next visit in late June or, perhaps better still, July. (The Silver Jubilee celebrations and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (7-16 June) and the EEC Summit (28-29 June) will occupy much of Ministers' time in June.) On the other hand, I think there is a case for falling in with the Governor's proposal that his next visit
CONFIDENTIAL