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- Under the Airport MOU the Foreign Ministers agreed to meet twice yearly.
- As the Secretary of State has said, he remains willing to meet with Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, if such a meeting would be useful. A bit early to judge what the right moment will be.
Secretary of State attaches importance to visiting Hong Kong regularly, but not necessarily on every trip to Asia. The programme for this visit is likely to be a full one.
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In this case the Governor will be in the UK at the time the Secretary of State is in Asia. The Secretary of State would not wish to visit in the Governor's absence.
(Has final decision been taken to exclude Hong Kong/China?)
- Final itinerary for Secretary of State's visit not yet settled.
(If Chinese agreed to talks on electoral issues, would that mean that the Secretary of State would agree to visit Peking?)
- The Secretary of State has said that he is willing to meet the Chinese Foreign Minister if such a meeting would be useful. That remains the criterion.
(Does the Secretary of State not care what
care what the people of Hong Kong think?)
- Secretary of State and Mr Goodlad both keep in close touch with Hong Kong opinion through the Governor, and also the many members of LegCo and other Hong Kong visitors who call on them in London. Both attach importance to regular visits to the territory.
4. With apologies for the tight deadline, we would be grateful for any comments by 100900z.
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