HKD+D
23 April 1992
HKD 010/1
la
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SWIA 2AH
From The Secretary of State
Ø Copy B/M. Ratta
Lear George
RE
Thank you for your letter of 16 April about the
Governorship of Hong Kong.
I agree with you about the importance of finding the right person to fill this position in the crucial years leading up to 1997. We have been lucky, therefore, that Chris Patten has agreed to serve in this demanding position. He has a range of qualities which will be
needed by a new Governor. Both the Prime Minister and I
have great confidence that Chris Patten will fill this post with dinstinction: the warm reaction from Hong Kong
suggests that people there think the same.
As you say in your letter, the final decision who should become the next Governor of Hong Kong fell to the British Government. In taking that decision we were able to draw on the wide range of opinions from people in
Hong Kong, not so much about who should be Governor, but
more about what sort of person would be needed. Certainly in my conversations with people from Hong Kong
George Foulkes Esq MP
/I found