TNAG-1077-FCO40-1327-Broadcasting-in-Hong-Kong-proposed-BBC-relay-station-1981 — Page 27

50

File

Mr MacInnes

Information Department

(G3/3)

CONFIDENTIAL

BBC RELAY STATION IN HONG KONG

нки з

306/1

RECEIVED IN REZATRY MD. 51 0 4 SEP 1981

DESK, OFFICER

MDEX

47

No

PA

REGISTRY Action Taken

7. Pas 719

49

See HKK300/1

Mr Burgess' minute of 28 August and Mr McLaren's of 3 September.

1.

I agree with Mr McLaren's arguments on the political advantages and disadvantages of the relay station.

2.

3.

1982.

On the question of confidence, I am afraid that we cannot with the Hong Kong Executive and Legislative Councils, make too much of the argument that HMG would be showing its confidence in the future of HONG Kong, if at the same time we were trying to persuade the Hong Kong Government to bear a major proportion of the costs of the relay station. The Governor has already made clear that such an approach would not be very convincing. To deploy this argument effectively, what is needed is for HMG to show itself sufficiently interested in the relay station to be prepared to invest a sizeable sum of money in it. It would then be possible to argue to Hong Kong that they should join in and, indeed, both the Governor and the Financial Secretary have made quite clear that a contribution would not be excluded. What they have made equally clear is that the full costs would not be met.

4.

I also think that we need to be fairly cautious in suggesting that the confidence argument can be deployed publicly. As Mr McLaren has made clear in his minute, the Chinese Government could be placed in a difficult position if too much emphasis were placed on a station relaying material to China from a point which they regard as Chinese territory. In all questions of this sort, the confidence argument is most effective if it can be demonstrated that the particular project is accepted by the Chinese.

5.

attached

(TJA

I should also take up the point in paragraph 2 of Mr Burgess' minute about Mr Howard's impression of the Hong Kong to attitude. As you know, we have been into this in detail with the Governor and the Financial Secretary. The position is clear. The Governor has told the Chairman in his letter of 20 June simply that the grant of a lease for a site for the relay station would depend on assurances that funds for constructing the station would be available from London. The Financial Secretary did go rather further than this, making clear that a request for a contribution would be sympathetically considered. But he did not say that the full costs would be met. It would be unrealistic for us to adjust our arguments to the Governor to a more persuasive tone because we thought Mr Howard, wrongly, suspected us of misrepresencing the situation.

CONFIDENTIAL

/6.