CONFIDENTIAL
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COVERING SECRET
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Private Secretary
SIR Y-K PAO
1.
·N.
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Mr Clift (HKGD)
Mr. McQu M. Williamsony d2
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I submit a draft Private Secretary letter to No 10
Downing Street, covering a draft reply from the Prime Minister
to Sir Y-K Pao's letter of 8 February and a draft reply from the Secretary of State to Sir Y-K Pao's letter of 11 February.
2.
The dates and programme for the Prime Minister's visit
to China remain to be settled, and our ideas have not yet been put to No 10 (although our very preliminary planning suggests that the most likely day for Shanghai might be Saturday 25 September). As for a visit by Gu Mu, the ball is in the
Chinese court. It emerged from the Secretary of State's meeting with Sir Y-K Pao in Manila and a recent approach by the latter's London office to Mr Donald that one of his main purposes in
urging a visit by Gu Mu is to arrange for Madame Gu Mu to launch
one of his ships in Sunderland in May. Even if we were anxious for an early visit by Gu Mu (for example if we could make a
positive response to his request for a large soft loan to China, which we cannot yet do), there is not much we could now usefully do to stimulate him to propose dates.
3.
In his letter to the Secretary of State, Sir Y-K Pao offers 'to help facilitate matters on Hong Kong'. Although, because of his access to Chinese leaders, his information and views are always of interest, we should not wish him to believe that we see him as any kind of official or unofficial intermediary. It seems best therefore for the Secretary of State to make no
written reference to this offer.
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4.
HKGD concur.
5.
For background I attach a chronology of Sir Y-K Pao's
/approaches
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