CONFIDENTIAL
MR. MAUDES
MEETING
WITH
GOVERNOR OF HONG
KONG
: 27 JUNE.
4.
PADS
Mr Maude said that he had already registered with Ambassador Ji that we wanted a supportive statement on this from the Chinese as evidence of a successful visit. The Governor thought this approach might work; if Hong Kong seemed too anxious, the Chinese would use this as a lever. They were suspicious that the project was designed to direct the SAR's resources to Britain. He thought that a short project summary should be given to Ambassador Ji and that Mr Maude should take it with him to Peking rather than sending it in advance.
Mr Maude said that the Prime Minister was likely to raise the question of contracts for British firms. An indication that a good bid from an Anglo-Japanese consortium would be attractive would enable the companies concerned to put together a package more quickly. The Governor said that Trafalgar House had a pretty good chance. HKG would put out documents in September/October asking for detailed bids by the turn of the year and would then negotiate with the selected
CONFIDENTIAL