SECRET
33
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
12 May, 1978
布政司署
香港下亞畢道
*** OUR REF.: TSX 4/60 IV
* Your Ref.:
HKK 040/2
JAB Stewart Esq OBE
Hong Kong & General Department
F C/O
lees
THE CHINA DIMENSION
I Thousanda
11/5
No
19/5.
HKK 040/1-
No. 51
2 MAY 1978
OFFICER
PA
REG.TRY Action, Teken
Many thanks for your letter (HKK 040/2) of
4 May about a paper on the China Dimension.
2.
I am afraid it will not be practical politics to produce a draft from here by the end of the month. I am due to go up to Peking tomorrow for a week. With the best will in the world, there would not be time to write a paper and get it to you by your deadline. It is clearly a subject of great importance and I would like our draft to be carefully thought out before sending it back to London. In addition, I think it would be right for us to work in consultation with Peking on this one, as was done when a contribution was sent from here to the Planning Paper.
3.
I will talk about all this when I am in Peking next week. I think the best I can promise is to let you have a paper as soon as we can.
It will certainly be available well before the summer holidays.
4.
I am sorry if this means that you will have left the Department by the time the draft arrives; but I have no doubt that you will have recorded your views either on paper or in the minds of other members of the Department.
Meanwhile I am sending a copy of your letter, together with this one, to Emrys Davies in Peking.
5.
with best wisher,
CC
(D C Wilson)
R C Samuel Esq (FED FCO) ET Davies Esq (PEKING)
SECRET
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