A R Paul, Esq
IN CONFIDENCE
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
2 Marlow Road Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 7DX
Telegrams Comgraves Maidenhead
Telephone Maidenhead 34221 (ext.........................................)
Hong Kong Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH
Your reference
HKC 225/1
(1)
Our reference
EXT 4/161
Date
26 January 1988
Dear Mr Paul,
letter or
pr Wh
It is some time since Anthony Layden wrote to my colleague, Henry Mackay, on 21 April 1987 about the arrangements for our cemeteries in Hong Kong after 1997. We appreciated his letter and we are replying as a good deal has happened in the last few months.
After exchanges of correspondence our Director-General was able to discuss the subject with the Governor, the Director of Urban Services and representatives of most of our member governments in Hong Kong during a visit in November. There was general agreement that the first step should be discussion by the Joint Liaison Group at the earliest possible moment and, as your predecessor made the suggestion that the matter should be raised after the JLG had moved to Hong Kong in 1988, I shall be grateful if the appropriate steps can be taken to put it on the agenda this year.
In our letter of 30 January 1987 we spoke about our desire to amend local legislation to reflect more accurately our position in Hong Kong. Following the recent discussions, we have felt bound to accept local advice that any move to do so in advance of JLG discussion might be regarded by the Chinese as an attempt to shift the goalposts before the game had started. This does, however, make satisfactory long term arrangements with the Chinese even more important.
The question of the Commonwealth war cemeteries will no doubt take some time to resolve through the JLG and I cannot stress strongly enough our desire to place it before them. FCO assistance in making the necessary arrangements will be greatly appreciated, as will your advice on the likely timetable and the action required from us prior to JLG discussions.
Yours sincerely,
Roger falling
Roger Dalley
Director of Secretariat
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