243/1
WB McCleary Esq
Bonn
Дела Вода,
2 3 MAY 1980
BONN
HONG KONG REFUGEES: VISIT OF DR KARL STUMPF
1.
2431
British Consulate-General
Frankfurt
20 May 1980
entes. pls. hopel
82
CE
I have already sent you copies of the press reports resulting from the press conference held for Dr Stumpf at this Consulate-General on the afternoon of 30 April. The conference was attended by representatives of the three main local papers, the Frank- further Allgemeine, the Frankfurter Rundschau and the Frankfurter Neue Presse. A handout based on the latest Hong Kong fact sheet was prepared beforehand and handed to the journ- alists. The meeting lasted about an hour and Dr Stumpf expressed satisfaction at the way it had gone, although he did remark afterwards that he felt some of the questions were a bit critical.
2.
A correspondent of DPA was also invited but declined to attend as she was to have a private interview with Dr Stumpf immediately before the press conference. He remarked later that she was more sympathetic than the other three, but I do not think he can complain about the articles they wrote.
3.
The programme in Wiesbaden (Hessen) on 2 May was arranged by Staatssekretär Dr G Steinhäuser, and we do not know all the details. However, that it was useful can be seen from the enclosed report taken from the Hessen Government's weekly information bulletin of 10 May. Our contact in the Social Services Ministry in Mainz (Rheinland Pfalz) Herr Färing, arranged for Dr Stumpf to call on the Rheinland Pfalz Minister for Social Affairs on the afternoon of 2 May (between commitments with Dr Steinhäuser). It was left that Herr Färing and Dr Steinhäuser would co-ordinate transport between the two Land capitals. We have had no feed-back at all from the Mainz visit.
4.
Alex Mineef in Munich had asked if it would be possible to fit in an inter- view, in Frankfurt, with a senior Munich journalist, Herr Sartorius. Although we tried to juggle the programme it proved impossible to fit in such a meeting.
5.
In spite of the comments conveyed in our Tel No 4 of 22 April, the Evangelische Kirche were involved in the programme. It was their Auslandsamt which set up the interview with the DPA correspondent referred to above, a fact we found out by chance. Fortunately, Dr Stumpf's programme in the Frankfurt area went smoothly but there was a risk of there being too many fingers in the pie.
Enc:
You's argu
John
L Lacey