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14. Dr McLaren said that the Society had been approached by the
NSC in Taiwan, and that an MOU had been signed by the two
organisations. Several British scientists had visited Taiwan,
but no applications had yet been received for visits in the other
direction. The Royal Society looked forward to receiving them.
15.
He
On Hong Kong, Dr McLaren said that the President was rather
more optimistic than she was about prospects for scientific
cooperation. The science base in Hong Kong was weak. The five
centres of higher education competed for students, duplicated
each other's work, and generally had no contact with each other.
Mr Lennox-Boyd said that perhaps this was the downside of the competitive instinct which had made Hong Kong so prosperous. agreed that it would be desirable for Hong Kong to have a single science academy. Mrs Leslie asked whether the British Council
could be doing more in Hong Kong. Dr McLaren and Mr Garrett both said that the British Council representatives in Hong Kong were
extremely helpful. But they did not have a instrumental role in
bringing together the academic community in the colony.
Professor Horlock, returning to the theme of competition between
academic institutions in Hong Kong, said that he had been
involved in setting up two open universities in the colony.
McLaren noted that the Chinese Academy of Sciences had elected
one or two of the more prominent Hong Kong scientists as members of their organisation. The aim of the Chinese Academy was
clearly to absorb the Hong Kong scientific community after 1997.
Dr
JAPAN
16.
Mr Bone said that the bilateral relationship between the UK
and Japan was in very good repair and extremely important.
This
was an important year for Japan, which held the current chairmanship of the G7. The Prime Minister, Chancellor of the
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