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LAST PAPER
FROM:
INDEX
A NR Millington
RA
Far Eastern Department
DATE:
14 December 1989
CC:
PS/Mr Maude
Mr Paul, HKD
CALL ON MR MAUDE BY LORD SHARP
1.
2.
Lord Sharp called on Mr Maude on 14 December.
Mr Maude asked about Lord Sharp's plans to visit China. Lord Sharp said that he did not have any specific dates in mind nor had he made contact with the Chinese. But he was thinking of paying a visit in the Spring of next year. Mr Maude said that he thought that this would be helpful.
3. Lord Sharp welcomed the decision which he understood had been taken at the Strasbourg European Council to relax the restrictions on export credit for China. He hoped that the British Government would also now approve ATP support for the refurbishment of the Peking Metro. British Ministers had given commitments to the Chinese before the June events that concessional finance would be forthcoming. The Chinese would not understand if the British Government continued to insist that the provision of concessional finance for this project was blocked by the Madrid Declaration on China. Mr Maude assured Lord Sharp that Ministers were well aware of the commercial implications of this project.
4. Lord Sharp explained that he would be visiting Hong Kong next week. Cable and Wireless, like other major British firms in Hong Kong, remain concerned about the brain drain of their employees. He hoped that, in addition to the right of abode to be granted to a specific number of Hong Kong citizens, the British Government would look favourably on Cable and Wireless's proposal for an additional safety net for the employees of major British firms. Companies like Cable and Wireless should be allowed to bring some of their key employees to the UK to do a real job of work for eighteen months to two years. At the end of this period the employees could be granted a British passport on condition
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