RESTRICTED
Background and Argument
3. Lee Kuan Yew will be paying a private visit to London from 28 May (he will be arriving early morning) to 31 May as part of a trip to Europe. He goes on from here to Paris, Budapest and, possibly, Amsterdam. It will be his first visit to London since stepping down as Prime Minister in 1990.
4. The Singapore High Commissioner has told me that Lee hopes to meet up with "some of his friends", including Viscount Tonypandy, Sir Percy Cradock, Professor Jolowicz of Trinity College, Cambridge and Lord Wilson. He recognises that it may be difficult to see Ministers (and has not specifically asked
for calls).
5. Lee's main purpose in visiting Paris is to attend a meeting of the J P Morgan International Council, but the French were quick to pick up the offer that Lee was "available for calls"; a call, and possibly a meal, at the Elysee is on the cards. His trip to Budapest is at the invitation of the Hungarian Foreign Economic Relations Minister, Bela Kadar.
6. Ministers will wish to consider whether, despite the inconvenient timing of the visit over the Whitsun weekend, they wish to offer Lee a call or some form of hospitality, even if he then turns it down. Even though Lee is more at home here than in Paris and is unlikely to resent lack of Ministerial contact, the Singapore press will make comparisons between the level of his reception here and in France - possibly to our disadvantage as Singapore's most reliable trading partner in Europe.
RESTRICTED
/sead05/SUBS/leekuan.visit