ki
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clear that he would welcome sponsorship from UK industry or HMG in the form of money or books. The position on industrial sponsorship is unclear. But it should certainly be possible to make a contribution of books (probably through the British Council) at the appropriate time.
LIBRARY IN BRITAIN
5. We learned last year that Sir Y K Pao may be thinking of funding a library in Britain and naming it after Deng Xiaoping. But we have no recent information about this project.
SINO BRITISH FRIENDSHIP SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME (SBFSS)
6.
The SBFSS is jointly funded by the Chinese State Education
Commission, the ODA and the Sir Y K Pao foundation. In 1987/88, its first year of operation, 336 students came to Britain under the
scheme. Further expansion is planned. But Sir Y K Pao has expressed concern about the level of fees charged by universities to visiting scholars and the cost of English language training for Chinese students here. The ODA are now looking at various ways in which the costs to visiting scholars could be reduced (the level of
fees is of course a matter for the universities, not HMG). The ODA
are also seeking to ensure that Chinese students coming to this country leave Chinese with a higher level of English proficiency than is at present the case.
CAMBRIDGE OVERSEAS TRUST
7. Sir Y K Pao may also refer to the newly established Cambridge Overseas Trust, which is chaired by the Prince of Wales and in which both Sir Y K Pao and the Foreign Secretary are participating as trustees. The purpose of the Trust is to promote the placing of
overseas students at Cambridge University. Sir Y K Pao has for some time been a trustee of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, also chaired by the Prince of Wales, which performs a similar function in
respect of Commonwealth students.
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