CONFIDENTIAL
HKK414
British Trade Commission in Hong Kong
9th Floor, Gammon House, 12 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong.
Mail Address G.P.O. Box No. 528 Hong Kong
Telex HX 73031 Cable Address Uktrade Hong Kong Telephone 5-2301|
Dr. D.C. Wilson,
Political Adviser,
Government Secretariat.
HONG KONG INSPECTION CHINA TRADE UNIT.
w
*
Our Ref
:'DM 414/3
9 May, 1979.
LA
N/T
*
hicharel Reave.
You will have seen a copy of my letter of May 2 to Trevor Gatty the FCO Inspector who will Visit Hong Kong from July 8-15 to inspect our China Trade Section.
2. As you know I went to Tokyo last week to discuss that letter and its enclosures as I shall not be in Hong Kong when Mr. Gatty arrives. On my return I saw copies of the Chief Clerk's telegram No.242 of 2 May and your reply telno 524.. While I was in Tokyo, Mr. Gatty received a similar telegram from the Chief Clerk instructing him to seek your views on the suggestion by Mr. Cradock in Peking that the senior staff of the new China Trade Section should be accredited in Peking although based in Hong Kong. The outcome is the attached minute from Mr. Gatty asking me to ensure that you are aware of the background to his visit.
which
3. My visit to Tokyo was most useful. Mr. Gatty thought, that my suggestions for staffing the new China Trade Unit were set out in para 1 of section 13 of my minutes of May 2 represented the minimum which would be necessary. He will naturally need to look carefully at the workload in the light of his discussions with the Ambassador in Peking but he thought that we would probably need a part-time junior First Secretary in addition. He also suggested that our need for a UK based confidential registrar might best be met by a UK based S2 who could perform the dual functions of confidential registrar and provide support shorthand and typing for the new unit.
4. There is one point in my proposals which differ from those put forward by Mr. Cradock i.e. formal responsibility for the China Trade Unit. Mr. Cradock wished them to be entirely under his direction with the Senior Trade Commissioner responsible for
CONFIDENTIAL
/their...