Mr Woodrow HKD
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RECE
INDES
-3 DEC 1993
SK OFFICE
GK/405/393/1B
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cc: Mr Mulcahy MVD Mr Rooney NTCD
Mr Moss PMD
ISTRY
tion Tuksi
Mr Moore RMO
Mr Weinrabe MRS
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS AND RECORDS TO BCG HONG KONG
1.
Please refer to your minute of 18 November proposing a meeting on 29 November to discuss a reply to Francis Cheung's letter of 8 October and some of the mechanics of setting up the Consulate-General. I would be very happy to attend the meeting but, as you mention in para 4, Consular Department's interest is limited. Our main concern is that the handover of protection work is done effectively and British Nationals receive their proper due throughout.
2.
In their June 1993 Review MRS refer to the transfer of consular functions gradually between January and May 1997. From our point of view the MRS recommendation for a transfer of consular protection functions between January and April would be compatible with their suggested timetable for staff arrivals and recruitment, ie DS6 Consul arrives in October, the DS9 V-C in December and LE consular staff are recruited in November/December. There are not many files relating to protection work SO the transfer of paper and picking up on cases should not be very time consuming.
3. We will be content to fit in with a timetable such as that suggested by MRS but tailored to agreement with HKID on start and finish dates and with PMD on arrival of UK-based staff.
M Thomas
Consular Dept CL604 270-4120 23 November 1993
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