Mr Ricketts, HKD
Confidential
cform To the Cox C
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031/24
1018
Copy dy fax
1501
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Mr Galswortky
сквер Morg Kang
ILG
Briefing the Secretary of State on JLG Work
Since the Secretary of State will be seeing his Chinese counterpart every six months to talk about Hong Kong business, and since Ministers are bound to become more involved in that business as we go into the second half of the transition period, the Secretary of State is anxious to start receiving intelligible periodic reports on JLG business.
The telegrams produced on JLG work are too long and detailed to show to the Secretary of State. One option would be to show him minutes of the meetings with very selective highlighting. The Secretary of State understands that no minutes are made of JLG meetings because it has been agreed that there should not be a record to which the British and Chinese sides could sign up. From a quick look at Annex II of the 1984 Agreement (on the JLG) there does not seem to be anything banning minutes of the JLG, but perhaps this has been a custom established subsequently.
In any event, I should be grateful for your advice about how best we can brief the Secretary of State, every week or two, on JLG work.
e return
10/
6 September 1991
Rx
N.I.S.
(RH T Gozney)
1
Cc:
PS
PS/Lord Caithness PS/PUS
Sir John Coles
Mr Burns