CONFIDENTIAL
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Director of the NCNA to come to Government House for the first time under the umbrella of a more general invitation. The trinity (or perhaps it should be troika) was completed by the presence of FEI Yi-min, the publisher of the local communist paper, Ta Kung Pao, who was also a member of the exhibition organising committee.
4.
The lunch went very well. Although conversation at first was rather sticky, it warmed up as the lunch went on. Everybody was very friendly and on their best behaviour. Just before the lunch, it had been decided that the water restrictions, under which we have suffered for several months, could be lifted. The Governor told the guests about the decision and coupled it with thanks for the water supplied from China which made a more liberal supply possible. His remarks went down well; they brought a rejoinder from Mr Li about China's "duty" to ensure adequate supplies for Hong Kong together with general comments implying willingness to supply more in future.
5.
Both the exhibition and the social spin-off have thus marked another interesting stage in the relationship between Hong Kong and China.
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(D C Wilson)
JA B Stewart Esq OBE
Hong Kong & General Dept FCO
ET Davies Esq
PEKING
C W Squire Esq WASHINGTON
P.S.
Since writing the above I have seen how the local communist press have reported the lunch at Government House. Both of their leading papers carried the news in straight- forward reports, saying that the lunch was for WANG Yeh-ch'iu, and listing LI Chu-sheng amongst the guests as a junior member of the Exhibition's organising committee. This is exactly as we would have wished it.
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