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a Memorandum, to be signed by the British and Chinese governments and by Sir Y K, which would set out the objectives, principles, and administrative arrangements of the scheme. Under this, a separate trust fund could, if Sir Y K wished, be established to manage the private sector capital element;
a flexible approach to fields, level and duration of study. The major general criterion would be consistency with the priorities of Chinese civil modernisation;
the Cultural Section of our Embassy in Peking, and the British Council in London would play a major role in processing and placing candidates;
early discussions in London on the details of
(The Chinese have made clear to
implementation.
us that they would welcome these).
5. We believe that this should be largely acceptable to Sir Y K and, after discussions, to the Chinese. During his visit, Sir Y K has already discussed his scheme in general terms with Sir Geoffrey Howe and agreed that discussions in London between British, Chinese and his own representatives would be desirable. If a suitable time can be arranged, he will also have more detailed discussions with Mr Raison. The British Council will give him a presentation on 20 March outlining the support they provide for students from China.
6. We have been working vigorously for some time to increase the number of Chinese students in Britain. There are currently some 1200 (of whom over 500 receive support from HMG), compared with around 800 in 1984/5. The primarly channel is ODA. But China is also the greatest beneficiary under the FCO SAS Scheme (currently 58 awards; although this is outside the special arrangements for Malaysia, Hong Kong and Cyprus).
Sir Y K's scheme could provide 300 new one-year awards annually.
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