R. C. Samuel, Esq., Far Eastern Department, King Charles Street, F.C.O.
PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL
HKK 164/1.
RECKL
17 38.1278
JUL
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INDEX
Teken
No be
Thompson
бор
(182
*B*KOW/ESCL (C)
10 July, 1978.
COAL FROM CHINA.
بیار
Thank you for your letter FEC 165/1 of 23′ June which happened to arrive just as I learned that Lawrence Kadoorie had written to John Lippitt (copy enclosed) expressing serious concern at the lack of action on the development of counter trading proposals.
2. My letter of 9 June was written because while we were receiving assurances that detailed schemes were being worked out, we had never been asked to comment on any draft papers. I was worried lest no deep thinking had been done about how to follow up Teddy Youde's approach to the Chinese last July and wanted a friendly insight into exactly what was happening at the London end. I think you will agree that our fears were justified and we shall now have to move very quickly if Lawrence Kadoorie is not simply to walk away and leave us to work out our own methods of breaking into the Chinese market. I was not concerned with who was dealing with the papers as long as someone was and we were to be consulted.
3.
Even though we have still not recŝived any written evidence of Whitehall thinking, Benjamin and his team must now understand the need to put forward some 11 definite proposals. I hope you will, however, keep an eye on the response to
paragraph 4 of my INDUS 29. If something does not come forward pretty soon it will be difficult to keep Lawrence Kadoorie in play.
24.
It can be argued that the loss of this trading opportunity in China might be made up by more direct and traditional trading methods. But my fear is that Kadoorie's disappointment and irritation could spill over to the complicated negotiations on the second stage of the Castle Peak power station and the EHV transmission network, The Governor, to whom Kadoorie sent an advance copy of his letter of 5 July to Lippitt, will no doubt raise the subject when he calls in at the FCO next week. I enclose a copy of a letter which I sent to him via Dennis Bray's office following his oral request for the background papers just before he left Hong Kong.
D. M. March
c.o.
E.T.Da vis, q, Peking.
K.J. McLaren. 28q., Hong Kong & General Dept.
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