TNAG-1230-FCO40-1543-Visit-by-Richard-Luce--Minister-of-State-for-Foreign-and-Com-1983 — Page 280

CONFIDENTIAL

MARK ELLIOTT,

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15 JULY 1983

PS/Mr Luce

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20 JUL 1983

DESK OF

INDEX

MR LUCE'S TRAVEL PROGRAMME

cc: PS

PS/PUS

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CH2Oh

Planning Staff HKD

Mr Donald

Mr. Hoare 181,

1. You invited me to comment on your circular minute of 13 July although no visit to FED countries is proposed in the current schedule.

2.

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Any visit to Peking would be conditional on the appropriate stage having been reached in the Hong Kong negotiations. Mr Clift will be commenting on the proposal that Mr Luce should visit Hong Kong and may record also that Sir P Cradock is happy that such a visit should take place in the way now suggested (ie as part of a tour to other Asian countries).

*

3. I think it is right that Japan and Korea should be omitted from current plans. Sir J Bullard has already confirmed a plan which he has had for some time to visit Tokyo and Seoul in the third week of September and it would clearly be inappropriate for Mr Luce to coincide with him. In practice, the range of subjects to discuss and the probable interlocutors (given that neither the Japanese nor the Koreans have an exact equivalent to our Minister of State) would be very much the same. I hope nevertheless that the Minister of State will not exclude the possibility of a visit before long to Japan and Korea, although it would be best to delay this until the beginning of 1984, given other plans for this time, both by Mr Luce and for other visits to those countries. programme for the first part of 1984 is not yet clear because of the possibility that the Japanese Prime Minister may come to Britain in that period and that the President of Korea may come as a guest of the Government in May. The Secretary of State has also agreed in principle to visit Japan and Korea and such a visit might well fall in early 1984.

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CONFIDENTIAL

Mark Shicht

Mark Elliott