4
FROM:
Secretary of State
TO:
Mr Allan Stewart MP
The Scottish Office
St Andrew's House
Edinburgh EH1 3DE
Thank you for your letter of 16 July about your visit to the Far East. I welcome this.
Japan continues to be a major source of inward investment to this country though there are persistent stories that some in Japan are worried that their investment flows should be more evenly balanced around Europe. We need therefore to keep up the personal contacts which are so important to the Japanese. Your visit will contribute to this process. It does however shortly precede one by David Hunt and the two will need careful orchestration to avoid overlap.
Taiwan is a different problem. We must continue to tread carefully over official or Ministerial contacts. I am content for you to confirm your visit provided it is presented as private (like all previous Ministerial visits from Europe), and that it is handled in a low-profile way, as you propose. I understand that Swires have issued an invitation for a private visit, which meets the first point provided there is some genuine Swires involvement in the programme. On the second point, I hope that you can reduce the time you propose to spend in Taiwan to a maximum of three days, perhaps staying longer in Japan. It would also be helpful to avoid further press briefing before and during the visit. And together we must try to ensure that your contacts with Taiwan "Ministers" are kept to the minimum compatible with your objectives. The Chinese have been told (following the recent FT article) that a visit is possible and will be watching like hawks.