FILE 193
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RECEIVED A
19 JUL 199!
ЭК ·FICEN
FROM: A R Paul
Hong Kong Department
DATE: 18 July 1991
PS/Lord Caithness
PA
Cc:
Mr Burns
Mr Davies, FED
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: INTERVIEW WITH LORD CAITHNESS:
18 JULY 1991
1.
I
I submit an advance copy of the press brief for the
Minister of State's visit to Hong Kong, in case he has an opportunity to skim through it before seeing Mr Wallen. recommend that the key messages to try to put across in this interview are:
(a) Pacific Rim Conference particularly well-timed in light of Hong Kong airport agreement: guarantees Hong Kong's continued dynamic role as financial and commercial hub of " region. Keen for our regional Ambassador to see Hong Kong's success-story. UK intends to remain a key-player in this
region.
(b) The airport understanding was very much Hong Kong's baby. The basis was laid at the Governor's talks with Lu Ping in March. Suggestions that a deal was done over Hong Kong's head are wide of the mark. There was a flood of telegrams and telephone calls between Peking, Hong Kong and London throughout Sir Percy Cradock's visit to Peking: consultation could not have been more intense or smoother.
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IG