CONFIDENTIAL
-4-
10.
Hong Kong has eight Government offices overseas but
no formal system of overseas representation.
Increasingly however, Hong Kong has to project its own
image overseas in order to encourage a positive approach to trade and investment opportunities in the territory and to counter critical and pessimistic comment about the
effect of 1997. A substantial part of this task falls
to the Governor. More than anybody else, he can get
direct access to senior Government leaders and achieve
the right sort of media coverage to get across the
message that Hong Kong is flourishing despite any
problems connected with 1997.
11. There is a substantial flow of traffic the other
way. Hong Kong being a hub of communications, there is a constant stream of senior politicians and business
leaders visiting the territory from all parts of the
world. Calls on the Governor purely as a courtesy are
not encouraged; but this still leaves a substantial
number of important visitors to be seen and looked after in various ways throughout the year.
12. The China dimension looms large, and increasingly pervasive, in most aspects of Hong Kong life. Every major issue has a China dimension. Under an agreement
reached with China in 1991, there are at least two
meetings each year between the Governor and the Head of
China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) to
match the two meetings each year between Foreign
Ministers. But that is only a small part of an
increasingly close and complex relationship with China.
More meetings with Lu Ping, the Head of the HKMAO, might
be necessary on a personal basis; the Governor needs to make a point of visiting both Peking and certain
CONFIDENTIAL