TNAG-0412-FCO40-458-First-Arts-Festival-of-Hong-Kong--26-February---26-March-197-1973 — Page 12

Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1

A K Mason Esq Defence Secretariat Hong Kong

REF.

REF.

Telephone 01-

Fill

20

18/1

HKK 18

Your reference

Our reference

DP 42/2

Date

17 August 1973

HONG KONG FESTIVAL 27 NOVEMBER TO 1 DECEMBER 1973

1.

I am enclosing for your information copies of two letters which have recently been addressed to DS 15 in the MOD to the CBF HK and Chief Staff Officer Hong Kong.

2.

A member of the Defence Department attended a special ceremonies committee in the MOD recently when the Hong Kong Festival was discussed. He gained the impression that progress towards firm arrangements with UK service participation for the Festival was rather slow. One obstacle seemed to be that no clear figures about the amount that the Festival funds could contribute for such participation have yet been produced. We wondered if there was anything you could do to see that this matter was satisfactorily settled.

3. Incidentally we do not seem to have heard of this Festival before. Is it a purely military affair? Perhaps you could give us a brief description of what it involves.

P M Kelly (Miss)

Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Department

UNCLASSIFIED