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Dinner with NCNA : 9 January 1979
HKK 173/1
OFFICER
On 9 January ir Wang Kuang (First Director) invited myself and my wife and the APA to dinner at the Lee Gardens Hotel. Also there were Li Chu-sheng (second Director), Tan Kan, Pan Teh-sheng, Li Jo-ho and Miss X'ung. The atmosphere was very friendly and jovial. Most of the talking was done by Li, although Wang intervened occasionally and showed some signs of a sense of humour.
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strangely, the NCI seened to have no brief to raise questions. However, we spoke at some length about their plans for English language training in Hong Kong following a remark by APĂ. They said that their intention was to set up an intermediate training institute which would be used to brush up the English of st xdents who were then going to Britain or the United States. They envisaged groups of 500 students studying here for six months, i.e. about 1,000 during the course of a year. They intended to use their own' existing school buildings and to look for suitable teachers locally. I told them that finding good teachers would not be easy. There was a great demand for English language training already in Hong Kong. I suggested that they should consult the British Council who had great experience in this field.
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I raised the subject of the through train. said that Mr lowes had telephoned me the previous evening from Canton to say that the local railway officials there appeared not too interested in a through train service and claimed to have no knowledge of the discussions I had had with NCNA the previous week. Furthermore, the Director of the Kwangtung Railway Administration was apparently absent in Peking. All these points surprised me since the NCNA had said that they were anxious to get a through train service started quickly. loth Wang and Li expressed equal surprise. They thought the Director would be back from Peking soon. They would telephone Canton that night to find out what was happening; they would ensure that Canton vas avare of the discussions between them and me and that the text which I had given had been received. They said that the first draft text had been sent up to Canton on Saturday and the second, final, version on Tuesday morning.
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