RESTRICTED
Reference......
HKK 286/4.
24
Mr Wood, Legal Advisers, W44/5
W
Enter and bu w ond week please.
HONG KONG: DONATION TO HMG BY THE LATE SIR SHIU-KIN TANG
1.
A
B
ດ
C
Sir
a
я
Shortly before his death in June of this year, S K K Tang,
noted
donated £1 Hong Kong philanthropist, million "to be used for charitable purposes in the UK, at the
with Following consultations
the complete discretion of HMG". interested Departments within the office we informed Hong Kong of the options we considered existed for disbursing the money. Hong Kong discussed the alternatives with
the alternatives with Sir S K Tang who
SK said he would be agreeable to HMG using the interest from two-thirds of the donation to fund scholarships for Hong Kong students to study in the United Kingdom (administered by the British Council, that
interest and arranged) remaining one-third to a medical trust, eg cancer research.
2.
C
a
be
At
a
donating
meeting subsequent
the
between
if
from
the
Council
British representatives and those of CRD and HKD in August, it was agreed that
Trust Fund
need would
to be
and established
Trustees British Council confirmed that appointed to administer the Fund. they could not set up a fund on our behalf but could select and administer students to benefit under the scheme. British Council subsequently set out in Ms Bowland's letter of 19 September how they would be able to assist.
3.
to us as
appoint
letter appeals to set up a Trust, in the Trust's
matter of
The option in paragraph 5 of Ms Bowland's
it would avoid the necessity for us
Trustees and become
therefore are
involved
inclined,
а as
We administration. courtesy to ask Hong Kong, to seek the agreement of Sir SK Tang's executors to our proceeding in this way. If this agreement was forthcoming we would then invite the Council to draft a letter to them from HKD setting out the terms and conditions of such an arrangement. (The proposals for charges to meet admin costs etc seem fair enough.) This draft could then be cleared with HKD and British Council legal advisers. It would however require a clear
from directive
the FCO to the Council about the "special purposes", in order to meet the late Sir S K Tang's known wishes. This would need to cover both the scholarship and medical charity elements. (I read Ms Boland's final para as an attempt to leave the latter aspect to the FCO.)
CODE 18-77
4.
your
encounter
we
alternative whether this option could result in the donation being subject to eg income or other UK taxes.
Before taking this matter further I should be grateful for advice on whether
consider that
to we are likely you
if obstacles
the any legal objections or
accept
in
5 para
Ms suggested
of
letter and Bowland's
J Thomas
Oetebor 1986
Hong Kong Department WH 312
233 4828
ЫКИ 2842
RESTRICTED
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
14 OCT 1986
XY
PA
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