TNAG-1412-FCO40-1888-Future-of-Hong-Kong-future-meetings-of-the-Sino-British-Join-1985 — Page 5

STAFF IN CONFIDENCE

Alan White Esq

Personnel Operations Dept

FCO

British Embassy

PEKING

8 August 1985

HKK

RECEIV

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INDS.

(JCG file) Le, & 30/8

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2 3 AUG 1985

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Dear Flan

T W M SMITH: SECOND SECRETARY

↑

الها

1. As I understand it, the plan for Tom Smith is that he should finish his third tour here in mid-January, which would be six months after his return from his second mid- tour leave. (You told me last month that the possibility of his being asked to stay on had fallen away as a result of the views he had expressed while on leave.)

2. I should be most grateful if you would agree to setting a date for his departure of not before 23 January. སྙཅུག original intention was that the Hong Kong desk officer, David Blunt, for whom Tom Smith, is well qualified to stand in, should take his second mid-tour leave from mid-November to mid-January, so that he would be back before Smith left. In putting that to David, I accepted that as a result we would not have the benefit of his service during the next

Joint Liaison Group meeting, then scheduled for early December. Now that the JLG meeting has been brought forward to the last week in November, I have asked David Blunt to delay his leave until the end of that month, so that he may be present. Two considerations have influenced me:

(a) Having now attended the first Joint Liaison

Group meeting, I see every advantage in Blunt taking the only opportunity before the end of next year to experience one of these meetings, preparations for which will be the single most important task during his third and final tour.

and

STAFF IN CONFIDENCE