TNAG-1297-FCO40-1652-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-a-1984 — Page 115

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SECRETARY OF STATE'S VISIT TO THE FAR EAST:/ EASTER BREAK AND KOREA

1.

The Secretary of State has been considering where to spend the period between the end of his programme in Hong Kong on Friday 20 April and the start of his programme in Korea. He has also considered the programme for Korea which you submitted ? with your minute of 8 March.

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2.

As regards the Easter break, the Secretary of State considers that he should leave Hong Kong at the conclusion of his official programme rather than spend Easter there. We shall therefore be declining an invitation from the Governor to spend Easter with him. He would also like if possible to avoid spending the weekend in a country which he will not be visiting on his official programme, to avoid the need for courtesy calls on Foreign Ministers etc. He is attracted to the idea of going to Okinawa as you suggest. He would be grateful, as a first step, if you could consult Sir S Giffard including on whether he would see any problem about our spending two/three days/and then visiting Korea before Japan. If Sir S Giffard (or Mr Spreckley in Seoul) had a better idea for an Easter break, he would be happy to consider it.

3. The Secretary of State has had in mind one or two general points about the Easter break, wherever it is to be spent:

(i) We are likely to be out of secure communication

with the FCO, although contactable by telephone. The Secretary of State would therefore like to hand over charge of the Office to Lady Young for 21 and 22 April if she is available then;

(ii) We are likely to have a press party with us.

He believes that they should be given the option of either staying in Hong Kong over Easter or accompanying us to our Easter break destination on the understanding that they would be accommodated separately. We should need to reflect this in the price we charge them;

(iii) We shall need to have a careful line ready for any PQ about use of public funds for the Easter break. The Secretary of State would be grateful if Protocol Department could obtain from the RAF a costing of (a) returning the party to the UK and flying them out again immediately after Easter and (b) identifiable additional costs arising from flying Hong Kong/Okinawa/ Seoul, as opposed to flying direct.

CONFIDENTIAL

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