TNAG-1310-FCO40-1667-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 72

358

FROM:

P J GOULDEN, NEWS

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DATE: 2 MAY 1984

Mr

Ir lift, HKD

HKK040|1

INDEX

14 DAY 1984

HK: BRIEFING UK JOURNALISTS

1.

cc:

CH2113

PS/Mr Luce Sir P Cradock

Dr Wilson

If it is decided that we should now brief more actively prior to the HK debate on 16 May, I suggest that we should do so in three ways:

i)

ii)

The Secretary of State should see the Editors who were omitted from the briefing on 12 April. This would be a deep background briefing for their ears only.

See (372)

Officials should brief UK correspondents who are taking an interest in HK. I attach a list. This briefing would be on a background basis (ie not attributable to British sources). We would retain the sanction of being able to exclude any journalist who broke those rules.

iii) In addition, I recommend that the Secretary of

State or Mr Luce should do a briefing for the lobby correspondents shortly before the debate. The lobby correspondents are, of course, ill- informed about HK and notoriously difficult to influence. But realistically it is they - and not the better informed diplomatic correspondents who will report on the debate. A briefing of this kind would have to be arranged with the agreement of Mr Ingham. My judgment is that he would cooperate.

2.

I should warn that, once we embark on this course, we will be under pressure to brief diplomatic correspondents on a fairly regular basis. Sooner or later the briefing rules are likely to be relaxed. The confidentiality of the negotiations will gradually wear thinner. There will therefore be a difficult balancing act between preparing the British media and keeping the Chinese and the people of HK content.

Ни

oulden

PJ Goulden

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