G.F. 82
File No.
CONFIDENTIAL
Page
(g)
(h)
(i)
3
Executive-led Government and would do what he could to ensure one. UK Rep JLG said that he thought the first part of this would be going too far at this stage. The Governor agreed.
The Governor said that he would also like to make the point to Ambassador Ma that we must be able to sort out JLG issues quickly. He wondered if he should give a hint that we were prepared to move further on ASAS. Mr. Hum said that the Department of Transport were worried whether this was the right time to make a significant change in our position, given our current difficulties on the airport. The Governor said that this was nothing to do with the Department of Transport. It was important that UK Rep JLG should have flexibility at the JLG meeting in September. Mr. Ricketts agreed, but said that it would take some time to persuade DTP to agree to this.
PA said that it would be helpful if the Governor told Ambassador Ma that he would like to discuss with Lu Ping when he saw him the question of contacts between the civil service and the Chinese. The Governor agreed, and said that this could be taken further to encompass transitional issues affecting the civil service. UK Rep JLG asked if the Governor would find it helpful to have a note on some glaring instances of JLG issues that had been delayed by the Chinese bureaucracy. The Governor said that
he would.
PA said that Ambassador Ma would probably ask the Governor when he was planning to visit China. The Governor said that he would say that he would be making his first policy statement in Hong Kong on 7 October, and would like to discuss the issues in this with Lu Ping soon after that. He was not proposing to go anywhere else first and was thinking of cancelling his trip to Canada originally scheduled for the week beginning 19 October. Mr. Hum said that one final point that the Governor might wish to make was that the Hong Kong Government needed to balance the various forces and opinions in Hong Kong. By criticising the Governor and the Government, the Chinese could make this very difficult and undermine the effectiveness of the Government.
whew!
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