RESTRICTED
146
BRITISH TRADE COMMISSION
HONG KONG.
нко 30111
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
18DECAX
21 November 1989
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
A R Paul Esq
Head of Hong Kong Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Whitehall
London SWLA ZAH
Miss Mar
R7 13/12
Mr Stone his/12
18/14/89
Mr Morlich
12/12
Dea Alan,
1. I mentioned to you when you were here that I had been approached by Leonard Rayner about a television debate between British and Hong Kong undergraduates to be featured on television in Hong Kong and perhaps in the UK too. Leonard Rayner is well known to us in this office. Early
in life he was himself a member of the Foreign Service. More recently he has been the CBI representative here, but now pursues a few private business interests and is about to publish two books, one of which is about Malaysia.
2. I told you that he was insistant that he should get FCO approval for the idea before he pursued it further. After our discussion I told him, as we agreed, that this really was not a matter on which the FCO had a position unless the subject of debate were to be very controversial and political. You will see from the attached copy of a letter of 17 November from Rayner to Durham University inviting their participation, that he has translated this into the FCO having no objections. This is right I suppose, even though it is not quite what I said. Nevertheless you should be informed of what is going on.
wer
Yours
Pelá
P W Heap
Encl.
CC:
W G Ehrman Esq Political Adviser, HK
PWH/mcs
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