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He was prepared to be very frank in private, as long as the Chinese showed that they respected his confidence and did not leak it.
He was determined to maintain a strong, executive-led Government. Chinese attempts to put pressure publicly on him, and so undermine his authority, ran counter to that interest. It would help no-one if the Governor was seen to be a puppet.
He wished to see progress in the JLG in the autumn, for example on ASAS,
He favoured increasing contacts between the Hong Kong Civil Service and Chinese counterparts, and would want to discuss this issue further with Lu Ping.
He would hope to visit Peking shortly after his LegCo address, and would be cancelling a visit to Canada in order to ensure that his first overseas visit was to China.
9.
All in all, Michael Sze, William Ehrman and Tony Galsworthy (who are operating very much as a team with the Governor's GH staff) are in for a busy couple of months. will need to keep closely in touch with their thinking and drafting.
We
Adult
PF Ricketts
CONFIDENTIAL