CONFIDENTIAL
FM FCO
TO DESKBY 10010OZ HONG KONG
TELNO 368
OF 09163OZ FEBRUARY 89
CONFIDENTIAL
MKD 301/1
23
076364
MDHOAN 4555
?
PERSONAL FOR GOVERNOR FROM PAUL, HKD
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST LEAD STORY
1.
LEAK.
WE ARE AS CONCERNED AND PERPLEXED AS YOU MUST BE ABOUT THIS
2. AFTER CHECKING, I AM SATISFIED THAT NO ONE IN THE FCO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT.
INDEED KNOWLEDGE OF THE CALL WAS RESTRICTED TO A SMALL CIRCLE HERE. IF THE ORIGIN OF THE LEAK WAS INDEED QUOTE A WHITEHALL SOURCE UNQUOTE, I LEAVE YOU TO DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS ABOUT WHAT SUCH A SOURCE MIGHT BE.
3. NEWS DEPARTMENT HERE HAVE SO FAR RECEIVED NO ENQUIRIES ABOUT THE STORY. IF ASKED THEY WOULD MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THE IDEA THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SUMMONED TO SEE THE PRIME MINISTER IS A COMPLETE MISCONCEPTION.
HOWE
YYYY
MAIN
25
LIMITED
HKD
NNNN
DISTRIBUTION
25
NEWS D
MR MCLAREN
PAGE 1 CONFIDENTIAL