TNAG-0915-FCO40-1126-Inspection-of-British-Trade-Commission--Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 23

Miss G G Brown CMG

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With HKK 414/1

DEPARTMENT OF TRADE

1 VICTORIA STREET

LONDON SWIH OET

TELEPHONE DIRECT LINE 01 215 3229

SWITCHBOARD 01 215 7877

This Stoddad. M consult De

connel.

Geograpical dopts concerned,

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Gt George Street London SW1A 2AH

JB34 327-

30 July 1979

Dear Gill,

BCARFE AND CHINA

As you know, Graeme Wilson's posting as British Civil Aviation Representative in the Far East, based in Hong Kong, has been extended for a further two years until May 1981. At the same time, as part of the current exercise on civil service numbers, CAIR Division is giving up one Assistant Secretary post. As from early September, Roy Nicholls will be transferred to another Division of the Department of Trade; his responsibilities for the multilateral aspects of civil aviation (ECAC, EEC and ICAO) will go to Martin Rumbelow; Leslie Standen will take responsibility for our interest in defence planning and for charters; and Concorde routes, hitherto with Martin Rumbelow, will go to Peter Bryant, and at Principal level to Keith Levinson.

G

2 Against this background I am keen to give Graeme Wilson as much responsibility as he can reasonably take: otherwise there is no point in maintaining a costly operation in Hong Kong. Now that we have initialled an air services agreement with China and assuming that it will be signed before long, which is of course by no means certain the question arises whether Graeme Wilson should concern himself with our civil aviation relations with China as he does with a range of countries in the Far East and South East Asia. I am not clear yet whether and in what way we might want to use Graeme Wilson in our exchanges with China on civil aviation: but if the agreement is signed and the services come into operation it seems quite likely that a number of issues will arise over the next few years which will most easily be resolved in Peking, and may be more readily handled on our side by someone with a civil aviation background. Certainly our staff resources here will not stretch to further lengthy stays in Peking by the London-based members of CAIR Division.

3 I should therefore like to know whether the FCO would see any objection in principle to Graeme Wilson being accredited to Peking (he is of course on the staff of a number of other Heads of Mission in the Far East and South East Asia); or, alternatively, to his dealing with the Chinese authorities as a

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