SECRET AND PERSONAL

14.

For the sake of completeness, a word on two existing

UK appointments in Hong Kong.

Senior Representative, Sino-British Joint Liaison Group

15. The Senior Representative is a senior grade DS officer,

supported by a Counsellor and two other diplomatic staff.

His office is paid for entirely by HMG. Under the terms of

the Joint Declaration this office is intended to be an organ

for liaison with China on the future of Hong Kong, not an organ of power in Hong Kong. The JLG is to play no part in the administration of Hong Kong nor is it to have any supervisory role over the administration. Its members are only to conduct activities within the scope of their JLG

functions. While we can stretch this at the margins, it

would not be possible to bring any of the JLG staff into

Government House on a permanent basis.

Senior British Trade Commissioner (SBTC)

16. The SBTC is a Senior Grade DS officer responsible for

the promotion of British commercial intersts in Hong Kong;

he is also Consul-General to Macao, and responsible for the

China Trade Unit which deals with trade promotion in

Southern China, as well as the British information effort in

Hong Kong. The SBTC's role will evolve over the next five years in preparation for his metamorphosis in July 1997 into the British Consul-General in Hong Kong, responsible for the

full range of British interests in the Hong Kong Special

MAIAAT/10

SECRET AND PERSONAL

/Administrative

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