TNAG-0525-FCO40-620-Visit-of-UK-Members-of-Parliament-(Defence-and-External-Affa-1975 — Page 244

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tours, the Sub-Committee may dispense either altogether or in part with requests for written evidence in the first place, but may opt for a thorough preliminary briefing on arrival at the Headquarters concerned. Such a briefing may be up to SECRET in content: there would be no record of any questions and answers on the briefing but the Sub-Committee would be expeated to ask if the texts of the preliminary briefing could be made available to the House for includion in the DEASC's subsequent report, suitably sidelined.

11. The question of whether formal, oral evidence will be taken in Hong Kong has not yet been determined. It seems unlikely that it will, however, because of the seeming impossibility of finding well-enough qualified verbatim shorthand writers.

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J C SLOMAN

Parliamentary Commissioner and Committees Unit

15 July 1975

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