16 January 1992
Peter F Ricketts Esq Hong Kong Department FCO
Dear Peter,
LEUNG CHUN-YING
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Me sounds well world cultivating. I mil lell Mr Paul Hat we'd be happy to see him, Leung Chun-ying, former Secretary General of the Basic Law Consultative Committee and now a non-executive Director of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute, is a man who, in my view, has all the attributes of a future Chief Executive of the Some Hong Kong SAR. In any event, he looks likely to play an
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important and influential role in the politics of Hong Kong after or him ar
(and perhaps immediately before) 1997. I enclose a record of my recent meeting with him.
2. still only 37, Leung is steadily building a base from which to launch a political career when the time is ripe. He is a chartered surveyor by profession and a Director of Jones Lang Wootton. A tall, impressively elegant figure with excellent English and considerable personal charm, he is a skilled communicator (I heard him dealing most effectively with callers' questions on Hong Kong politics during a recent Cantonese radio phone-in).
3. Leung's strength, it seems to me, lies in the fact that he has convincing "Hong Kong" credentials and yet clearly enjoys Peking's favour: his service on the BLCC will have assured him of that. He is maintaining a low political profile now, and would thus be well placed in about 1995-97 to move centre stage, particularly if those who are playing a leading role in the present LegCo have been discredited or played out by then.
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Leung tells me he is paying a private visit to England later this year (in March/April I think) and I suggest that it would be worth inviting him to London to call on the FCO (perhaps you and Andrew Burns) and possibly do one or two other things if time permits. He will be staying in Bristol (his old university) most of the time, but showed interest when I suggested a brief visit to London.
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Alan
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