6147
Secretary - London Office 0x52xxx Home 01- 351 6918
From: Lord MacLehose of Beoch K.T.
HOUSE
OF
LORDS
18th April, 1988
Beoch, Maybole,
Ayrshire, KA19 8EN Telephone 0655 83114
Des Simno.
Oxford Colonial Archives Project
Rhodes House
I have been asked to contribute to the Oxford Colonial Archives Project and would be glad to have confirmation that there is no F.C.O. objection. I presume that the Project, its procedures, and the conditions applied to the protection of its material, will be known in the Department.
The proposition put to me is that I should record tapes of my recollections of Hong Kong Government on the basis of questions agreed by me in advance. The questioner would be Doctor Steve Tsang of St. Antony's College. The tapes would be kept in storage in Rhodes House Library, claimed to be secure. Before recording, I would get a written assurance in whatever form the F.C.O. recommended, that release would only be considered after a set period twenty years and then only when, and to the extent agreed by both the Secretary of State and my Executor.
say
Such a record might be of interest to eventual historians. They will find that, unlike what happens now, in the seventies there was extraordinarily little official dialogue with London about why things were done in Hong Kong. You might be surprised to hear that a Deputy Under Secretary admonished me, "Your job is to keep Hong Kong out of the Secretary of State's hair". Moreover, I doubt if Hong Kong Government records will be all that illuminating except about what was done. In the circumstances, the main source is likely to be media speculation. I would like something else to be available eventually.
If this gives difficulty please let me know. If the Office want to deal with me about detail, no doubt someone can get in touch direct.
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The Lord Glenarthur, Minister of State,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
Downing Street,
London, SW1.
Mr Hum, HKD
for
advice and
O draft reply
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from Lord Glenarthur please
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Ps/ Land Glenarthur
Miss Barnes, LRD
20 APR 1988
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