CONFIDENTIAL.
ii) I agree with Mr Patten about our technical cooperation programme. I attended a meeting at the ODA a couple of months ago when Mr Caines cast an
an extremely fierce and
I think they critical eye over the ODA's efforts in China. have probably got it right.
iii) Mr Patten touches on the debate about whether China can be conquered from Hong Kong. There are two different views about this: the Commercial Counsellor in Peking believes that there is no substitute for businessmen going to China, preferably travelling widely throughout the provinces to take advantage of delegated authority the provinces now to sign their own contracts. On the other hand, as part of our efforts to show how important and vital Hong Kong is, we have talked publicly about the important
As with so many springboard role which Hong Kong can play. things, we need to make sure that we do not suggest to businessmen that there is any one single answer but that they must look critically at all the options available.
I
iv) On staffing, Mr Patten asks if all the young sinologists have gone to the city? Not all of us (but the colleagues who have tell us alluring stories!), but enough of the right grades to leave holes. Why do they leave? am sure POD have asked them, but it is worth bearing in mind that Peking is very far away, you are made to feel very foreign, very different and very isolated, the climate is grim, the opportunities for spouses to work limited, it is a long way for boarding school children to come for the holidays and it is hard to keep little children amused in a tower block with no proper parks or gardens nearby. are many worse posts, but Peking is not an attractive destination. We are also being recycled at an alarmingly fast rate, with little breathing space between China/Hong Kong jobs. Of course I understand why Hong Kong is important, and I can understand why Mr Patten would like to see an Embassy in Peking bristling with bright young things. Perhaps some people did join the Foreign Office and learn Chinese with the aim of devoting three quarters of their working life to
CC:
Mr Voysey, FED
Mr Paul, HKD
Mr Connor, POD
Mr Kemp, PPD
Mr Runacres, COMED
29 September 1988
China.
There
But some of us didn't!
Clare Smilla били
Claire Smith (Mrs) Far Eastern Department
S51AAV