布政司署
香港下亞
畢道
A OUR Ref.: TSX 1/78
T
來函檔號 YOUr Ref.:
SECRET
38
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
23 February, 1981
R Clift Eq
Hong Kong & General Department F CO
leer
Lich,
AKCK oHoll
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51
10 MAR 1981
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
مین
PA
+17,5
REGISTRY
Action Taken
pano 16/7
See
50
TIN SHUI WAI
27
Thank you for your letter of 9 February and the enclosed minute recording your meeting with Michael Banks who acts as a consultant to Mr John Wu of Trafalgar Holdings.
2.
Michael Banks has been to see me on two occasions while here. At my request he elaborated on what Mr Wu had said about going to Peking and apparently receiving at least a non-negative reaction from the Hong Kong/Macau Office to the suggestion of a "sub-lease" of up to 75 years.
3.
According to this expanded version, Mr Wu was invited to Peking by the head of the Hong Kong/Macau Office (Liao Chengzhih). By the time he arrived, however, Mrs Chennault (of Flying Tiger fame) was also in town. Instead of seeing Liao, he therefore saw his secretary, Li Hao. They had discussed the scheme recorded in your minute and Li had "seemed to think it might be a good idea".
4.
I told Michael Banks that it had been made quite clear, as John Wu would know, that the Chinese saw China Resources as operating on this venture like any other Hong Kong company and that they were not asking for any special lease terms. He later came back to me and said that John Wu was aware of the official Chinese reaction to the idea of longer leases (although he had apparently not thought it worth while to tell Banks until asked). Wu claimed however that the reason China Resources, and by extension the Chinese authorities, now do not wish to pursue the possibility of a longer lease was not because of its intrinsic difficulty but because they feared to do so would delay Hong Kong Government approval of the development scheme.
SECRET
/contd.
•
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