TNAG-0508-FCO40-573-Construction-of-underground-railway-system-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 95

Stuart ?/0 PIA

Mr Stuart

MASS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM

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HKK 21/2

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1. Mr Aston has not been kept fully in the picture so that it is not his fault that in his Telegram No. Creda 34 he has got the picture rather wrong.

2.

I do not find it at all surprising (paragraph 5) that Jardines have not heard of the Japanese approach to GEC. The way the Japanese have been playing this is not direct and pretty clearly they would not take Jardines into their confidence at this stage. It is even more natural that Jardine Engineering Company should be trying to get sub-contracts for their principals, most of whom are British. It is of course because Mr Weinstock took away and in a cavalier fashion- the EEC agency held by Jardines Engineering that both enabled and encouraged Jardines to seek and obtain the Mitsubishi Agency with results that we all know. There is no love lost between Jardines and GEC at any level.

3.

With respect to paragraph 7 we have of course never suspected that the Japanese would have told the Financial Secretary of GEC's "approach" in respect of sub-contracts. It is of course least equal odds that in the end Mitsubishi will give nothing to GEC.

4.

The arguments employed by Mr Aston in paragraph 9 arise from his lack of information on the reason behind our wish to inform the Governor of the Japanese approach. Re: (a) we do not expect the information to be of any practical use to the Governor at this stage. Our concern is lest the Japanese should later imply to the Hong Kong Government that GEC involvement was synonymous with UK Government interest. The argument in paragraph 9(b) is rather obtuse - the Governor has had no interest in the GEC becoming a sub-contractor. In respect of 9(c) we have all along recognised this risk and it has been our intention to pass the information to the Governor for his own strictly personal information. As for 9(d) this has never been our intention. Indeed our whole aim has been to keep HMG out of further negotiations.

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