Sir Michael Marshall MP
House of Commons
LONDON
SW1A OAA
DRAFT
Thank you for your letter of 8 May with a comprehensive account of developments at the recent IPU conference.
I was very pleased to hear of your success in securing the Twelve Plus Group's adoption as their candidate for the Presidency. There is clearly some way still to go, and I am quite content, as we discussed earlier, for some of our Embassies and High Commissions to give discreet support to your candidature. Please go ahead and liaise with Mike Bates over how we carry this forward.
Malcolm Caithness has told me about your meeting with him on 13 May.
Your talks with Yao Guang were obviously helpful, though his direct influence on policy-making must now be doubtful. (He was replaced as responsible Vice-Minister during the Hong Kong talks when it became clear that he was not on top of his brief). But we are grateful to you for speaking frankly to him. We hope that the message is gradually getting through to the decision-makers, but the proof will be in the position the Chinese negotiators take at the next round of talks.
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