RESTRICTED
Europe.
Action:
FED CRD to prepare good brief for Lady Thatcher.
Name Change
7. I told Tai that the Chinese Ambassador continued to grumble about the FCC's new name. We explored whether Tai might merge the three Taiwan offices in London. He said that Michael Wei objected because this would reduce Wei's own access. I told Tai in terms that if he, Tai, were head of a merged Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, we would find it much easier to deal with him direct as the Taiwan economic and commercial representative as we now did with Wei. He noted this as a clear statement of our position.
Action: for Tai to take forward.
8. I told Tai that we too were considering a possible name change in Taipei. We would like the office to be seen as covering culture as well as trade and to represent the UK as a whole. "Anglo" should give way to "British". We were contemplating a name such as "British Institute in Taipei". This would then incorporate the current ATEC operation. saw no problem with the proposal, which I emphasised was still only under consideration.
Legal Ownership of Office Premises
Tai
We ran
9. Tai reverted to the problem of finding a formula allowing the Taiwan government to own a building in London. over the ground about the Foreign Corporations Act etc. I said that it was surely possible to establish a private company in Taipei which would then own a building in London. If he had problems finding legal advice, we could probably recommend a firm of two. Tai was grateful and might revert. He admitted that the major difficulty lay with the Taiwan side which was unable to agree between different Ministries who would own such a company.
Action: Tai to contact us if he wants legal advice.
Airport Passes
10. Tai had recently met the head of a security firm at the airport who was ready to obtain airport passes for the TRO if the FCO approved. This would get round the British Airport Authority's obstructiveness. I encouraged Tai to give us the name and we would try to push matters forward; this looked
RESTRICTED