358
FROM:
P J GOULDEN, NEWS
RESTRICTED
DATE: 2 MAY 1984
Mr
Ir lift, HKD
HKK040|1
INDEX
14 DAY 1984
HK: BRIEFING UK JOURNALISTS
1.
cc:
CH2113
PS/Mr Luce Sir P Cradock
Dr Wilson
If it is decided that we should now brief more actively prior to the HK debate on 16 May, I suggest that we should do so in three ways:
i)
ii)
The Secretary of State should see the Editors who were omitted from the briefing on 12 April. This would be a deep background briefing for their ears only.
See (372)
Officials should brief UK correspondents who are taking an interest in HK. I attach a list. This briefing would be on a background basis (ie not attributable to British sources). We would retain the sanction of being able to exclude any journalist who broke those rules.
iii) In addition, I recommend that the Secretary of
State or Mr Luce should do a briefing for the lobby correspondents shortly before the debate. The lobby correspondents are, of course, ill- informed about HK and notoriously difficult to influence. But realistically it is they - and not the better informed diplomatic correspondents who will report on the debate. A briefing of this kind would have to be arranged with the agreement of Mr Ingham. My judgment is that he would cooperate.
2.
I should warn that, once we embark on this course, we will be under pressure to brief diplomatic correspondents on a fairly regular basis. Sooner or later the briefing rules are likely to be relaxed. The confidentiality of the negotiations will gradually wear thinner. There will therefore be a difficult balancing act between preparing the British media and keeping the Chinese and the people of HK content.
Ни
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PJ Goulden
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