19 August 1993
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Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SW1A 2AH
270-2156
Sir Robin Butler GCB CVO Cabinet Office
bcc:
PS/Mr Goodlad
Mr Hum o/r
Mr Ricketts, HKD
Miss Everett, News Dept
استكمل سما
Dew
SIR PERCY CRADOCK'S MEMOIRS
In my letter of 10 August on this subject I referred to the need to have a press line available in due course on the question of whether Sir Percy Cradock had cleared his memoirs with HMG.
Since I wrote that letter we have learnt from a journalist, John Ellison, that Percy Cradock, who has known him many years, told him in the strictest confidence that he was writing his memoirs and that you had said that the last two chapters of the book could be damaging to the present talks and relations with the Chinese. At the Cabinet Office's urging Sir Percy had therefore reluctantly agreed to amend the last two chapters. Ellison had told the Sunday Morning Post, a Hong Kong based newspaper, about this. They were putting great pressure on him to write the story although he is hesitant at present because he does not want to betray Sir Percy's confidence.
I thought you should know of this because there is clearly a possibility that the story will break rather sooner than we might have anticipated.
Your ever
bolu lobes.
Sir John Coles
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