CONFIDENTIAG
letter
attached at Flag A
Nefel
12.
The Governor has brought with him proposals for the
establishment of a Polytechnic; there are no colleges of higher technical education in Hong Kong as yet. We shall examine these proposals with the Ministry of Overseas Development.
Speaking Notes
13.
V. Term of Office as Governor
The Secretary of State will wish to ascertain from Sir David whether he is still willing (as he said he was in December) to continue as Governor for a period up to one year. A complication might be his wife's health: she had a fairly serious operation early this year.
Chak
The Secretary of State will want to take this opportunity to form an opinion of Sir David's health and fitness to continue in office.7
Background
14.
Sir David Trench's five year term of office as Governor of
Hong Kong will end in April 1969. If he took all the leave due
to him before then he could, in practice, start his retirement leave in November or December this year. He indicated last December that if his health continued to be good he would be willing to continue to serve until the end of 1969 or early 1970 should Ministers wish him to do so. The Secretary of State informed
Sir David last autumn that the matter of his health would be
considered on the next occasion that he visited the U.K. His
health caused some anxiety in the middle of last year but has since substantially improved. Lady Trench underwent a fairly serious operation early this year; but it is believed that this develop- ment has not caused Sir David to reconsider his offer to extend his
term of office.
15. Sir David's current visit to London will give the Secretary of State an opportunity of judging his state of health and his fitness to continue in office. The Secretary of State will, no doubt, wish subsequently to report his views to the Prime Minister who asked, at the beginning of March, to be consulted in good time about the selection of any successor to Sir David Trench.
16. There has been a public campaign in Hong Kong (endorsed in correspondence from some unofficial members of the Executive Council and from the Hong Kong Association in London) to secure an extension of Sir David's term of office. The terms of office of the last two Governors were extended (Sir Arthur Grantham for a
second term of five years and Sir Robert Black for one year).
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.