A
CONFIDENTIAL
Background
3. The first letter is from Mr Richard Johannessen, President
of the American Chamber of Commerce, asking the Secretary of State
to meet the Chamber. The Chamber is very active in Hong Kong,
reflecting the level and breadth of US investment there. The
Chamber will however probably understand that the Secretary of
State's programme is already crowded. It is already intended
that Mr Johannessen should be included among other business
leaders in the dinner with the Secretary of State on 30 May at
Government House.
B
4. The second letter is from a group comprising journalists and young professionals. The former include Mr Frank Ching, who
joined Martin Lee on his visit to London last January, and
Ms Emily Lau, of the Far Eastern Economic Review. Generally the group represents the vocal "liberal" element in Hong Kong, which
is highly critical of HMG and the Hong Kong Government. They could
be expected to make as much mileage as possible out of any refusal
to see them. But it is not possible for the Secretary of State to
see representatives of every pressure group in Hong Kong, and I
would expect the Governor to recommend against singling them out
for a meeting. It would however seem appropriate for certain
members of the group to be invited to the "young professionals"
lunch on 31 May. If this was done, and if reference was made to
it in the letter turning down the request for a meeting, our position would be defensible. The journalist members will of
course be able to attend the press conference.
5. The proposed draft reply includes an invitation to each group to make a written submission to the Secretary of State, which would be drawn to his attention.
CONFIDENTIAL
си
CO Hum