Mr Murray
COVERING CONFIDENTI AL
AKK 280/1
RECEIVED IN RIGIDITY NO.
- 7 JUL1978
29
INDEX
PA
iction Tren
Flag A
Flag B
attatched
Flag C
45
iss
Roberts To Jose
PS/Lord Goronwy Roberts
122
HONG KONG PRECIOUS BLOOD GOLDEN JUBILEE SECONDARY SCHOOL
1. Two teachers from the Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School in Hong Kong have asked to call on Lord Goronwy Roberts in order to present "certain facts" concerning the closure of their school by the Hong Kong Education Department on 14 May (their letter of 30 June).
2.
The attached background note (prepared in connection with a series of Parliamentary Questions put down by Mr Robert Parry MP last week) describes this complicated story in outline. Public opinion in Hong Kong is divided on the rights and wrongs of the case, and the Governor has set up a Committee of Enquiry, chaired by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, which has been asked to submit its report and recommendations by the begin- ning of August.
3.
The Committee of Enquiry are considering all aspects of the affair, past and present, and the teachers have had ample oppor- tunity to present their case. In these circumstances the Governor considers that it would be inappropriate for Ministers to receive the two visitors. He recommends that they should be advised to await the findings of the Committee of Enquiry before pressing their case further. (Hong Kong telno 784).
The two teachers
4. I agree with the Governor's recommendation. argue in support of their request that the Minister of State received a delegation from the Shorthand and Audio Typists Assoc- iation in January. But the comparison is not really valid. The SATA delegation came to London only after prolonged negotiations in Hong Kong had led to deadlock; in this case a properly constituted Committee of Enquiry has been appointed, and it would be wrong to anticipate the outcome. The SATA visitors were also elected officers of their trades union, whereas the two teachers represent only them- selves and their immediate colleagues.
5. A blunt refusal to receive the teachers at all would however appear discourteous, and might attract criticism from the MP's and trades unionists who have interested themselves in this case. I therefore recommend that the teachers should be offered a meeting with officials as an alternative to one with the Minister of State. The Governor will not like our according them even this degree of recognition, but I do not think he will object too strongly provided we do no more than accept their documentation and listen to what they have to say.
6.
CC:
I submit a draft reply accordingly.
Mr Cortazzi
News Department
Overseas Labour Adivser
RJT McLaren
3 July 1978
Hong Kong and General Department
COVERING CONFIDENTI AL
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