TNAG-0576-FCO40-709-Visits-of-UK-officials-to-Hong-Kong-1977 — Page 163

I have minuted on

H.K.

Mr H A H Cortazzi

Coptozzi

Ate

22/V

20

SPONSORED VISITS FROM JAPAN, CHINA AND HONG KONG

1. At the risk of adding to the amount of paper which you must have collected together in preparation for your forthcoming trip to the Far East, you may like to have the following short back- ground on the present position regarding visits from the three countries which are included in your tour.

Visits from Japan

2. The Embassy in Tokyo have put forward the following proposals for Category I visits during the next 12 months. (a) A group of three senior Trade Union officials linked to

(b)

(c)

(a)

(e)

Domei. Our view is that this is a possible starter, but

we want to ensure that we get the top officials and not the Second XI which, you will remember, happened on the previous occasion.

A group of three Dietmen. We are all in favour of this, and the visit will probably take place early in 1977. The Foreign Editors of the two major industrial newspapers, the Nihon Kogyo Shimbun and the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun. Far Eastern Department support this.

A group of experts in a specialised area of hospital equipment. We have had a number of medical visitors from Japan recently under our wing and we are trying to sell this proposal to the Department of Trade.

Four of five leading figures in the Japan book trade. This suggestion is also linked with possible sales of British goods and we are consulting the Department of Trade about the possibility of the latter taking it on.

3. On the Category III front, we have made it clear to Tokyo that, although we shall be pleased to help really worthwhile visitors under this heading, there must be a limit to what we can do, and the signs are that Mr Slatcher has got the message. I do not think that there is any need for you to raise the matter

with him.

/Visits from China