-2-
understanding. In my experience visits by London negotiators on civil aviation matters (successively Legoy, Rogers and Roberts) are always busy occasions with little time for discussion of extraneous issues or for cultivation of colleagues.
3. Quite apart from the cost considerations which I assume must be playing their part in any review of the continuation of the BCARFE post I gathered from Wilson that there may also be a problem in finding a suitably qualified successor, especially since such a successor should be a man willing to serve for a long period in the Far East without any great expectation of promotion beyond Counsellor level. If it should prove difficult to find a member of the Home Civil Service willing and able to take on the job, I wonder if the Diplomatic Service could not find an officer of First Secretary or Counsellor level whose career is unlikely to take him further, but who likes the Far East, has some of the languages and would be prepared to stay in the job for 8, 10 or even the 16 years for which Graeme Wilson has served out here. I would think that such a person probably does exist. If so, I see no reason why he should not be taught the civil aviation part of the job as an addition to his existing diplomatic skills. I have in mind the precedent of Robert Swann who became most proficient in the civil aviation arts.
the
4. One matter which I have not so far raised in this letter, since it is not my direct concern, is the question of relations between BCARFE and the British airlines (British Airways and Cathay Pacific) operating in this area. I believe BCARFE's existence provides a means of liaison with those bodies, absence of which might well be harmful. Certainly that is the view of successive BA representatives in Tokyo for whom I can speak. I have also had direct experience here of the useful role which, essentially on a personal basis, BCARFE plays in lubricating the potential friction which can arise in the context of differences of interest between HMG and the Hong Kong Government. My experience in this matter is, of course, only local and derives from those occasions when BCARFE has led UK teams on which the Hong Kong Government was represented.
CC
Sir K Clucas KCB, DOT
Sir Murray MacLehose GBE, KCMG,KCVO Governor, Hong Kong
HM, Ambassador Seoul HM Ambassador Manila
HM Ambassador Jakarta
HM Ambassador Vientiane HM Ambass: HM Ambassar Bangkok
r Rangoon
Упить
s ever,
Michael
م کرنا
Michael Wilford
High Commissioner Kuala Lumpur High Commissioner Singapore High Commissioner Brunei
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.