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There will also be a press conference before departure.
DISCUSSIONS WITH THE GOVERNOR
4. Discussions on Vietnamese refugees (Brief No 3) and immigration
(Brief No 4) are likely to be mainly a question of bringing the
Secretary of State up to date on the situation in Hong Kong and
the measures being taken by the Hong Kong Government.
5.
On reinforcement (Brief No 5) the Governor may want to discuss
possible improvements in the package which has now been announced.
He may also seek the Secretary of State's support on the question
of costs. The 1975 Defence Costs Agreement provides for the costs
of the garrison to be shared, with the Hong Kong Government paying
75 percent, but the Ministry of Defence are taking the line that
Hong Kong should pay the whole cost of the reinforcements being
provided. We think this is unreasonable.
6. As HM Ambassador in Peking will be coming to Hong Kong for
the Secretary of State's visit it would be very useful to devote
some time to discussion of the New Territories leases issue. A
fairly full brief has therefore been provided (Brief No 6).
MEETING WITH THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
7. The Executive Council is the senior advisory body in the Colony,
consisting of 5 ex-officio members and 9 appointed members, 8 of
Brief personality notes on the members are pro-
them unofficial.
vided (Brief No 11).
8. The Governor has suggested that the Secretary of State might
open the meeting with a short statement (a draft is attached
Brief No 7) and thereafter answer questions, some of which are
/likely
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