CODE 18-77
SS 10/76
CONFIDENTIAL
·with 122
Reference
Tel to issul
Jees
Mr Stewart
HONG KONG: POWER STATION PROJECT
1. I have discussed BTC telegram no 61 with Mr Mac Donald, DOI, and agreed that he will initiate action on paragraph 2 and that we will deal with paragraph 3.
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2. The DOI would prefer to deal with the question of the Prime Minister's accepting Sir Lawrence's proposed gift since an approach to Number Ten, which will be necessary, will inevit- ably raise the question of the Prime Minister's seeing Sir Lawrence Kadoorie, as he did in March. The DOI's present inclination is to try to avoid a meeting between the Prime Minister and Sir Lawrence. (They are planning meetings with Mr Alan Williams, the Minister of State concerned who saw Sir Lawrence before, and Mr Lippitt). They are concerned that at this stage the Prime Minister might feel obliged to strike too optimistic a note with Sir Lawrence which might or might not be justified when our package is presented to the China Light and Power Company later in the summer. The DOI wish to avoid the risk of Sir Lawrence thinking that subsequently the Prime Minister had let him down, ie that the package was not as attractive as he might have expected from talking to the Prime Minister. I have told Mr MacDonald that we would not wish to object if the DOI wanted to play matters this way provided, of course, that they were satisfied that they had the Prime Minister's authority for doing so and that Sir Lawrence could be given plausible reasons as to why the Prime Minister could not see him this time, eg his involvement with such domestic matters as the future of the Lib-Lab pact, Phase 3 of the pay policy, etc. Personally, I should not be surprised that the Prime Minister will says that he should see Sir Lawrence and that will be it. At present, Mr Mac Donald envisages a letter from Mr Alan Williams' PS to Number Ten the well-oiled channel for communications to Number Ten on the power station project saying that Sir Lawrence Kadoorie will be here in July and saying that he wants to present the Prime Minister with a piece of jade. I have given Mr MacDonald the reference number for the Cabinet Office document containing the Prime Minister's note on "Questions of procedure for Ministers", which contains some guidance on the acceptance of gifts, in case he wants to draw it to the attention of Mr Williams' office. It seems to me that it is a matter for the Prime Minister's discretion as to whether he will accept Sir Lawrence's gift.
3. I have spoken to Mr Harrod, Assistant Passport Officer at Clive House, (CBX 2912, ext 41) about the problem that Sir Lawrence and his wife have over the fact that there is no remaining space in their present passports for immigration officers' stamps but that these passports contain valid visas for Brazil and the United States, which the Kadoories will visit after the UK. He tells me that the Passport Office will be prepared to issue the Kadoories with second passports to attach to their present ones but that new passport photographs will be required. I have left it with Mr Harrod that we will
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CONFIDENTIAL