TNAG-1468-FCO40-1997-Visits-by-members-of-the-Office-of-the-Unofficial-Members-of-1986 — Page 193

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RD1AJH

CONFIDENTIAL

427

issuba

1215/4.

wn artrogly ey to visit nu @ thr пи

of PRC/Mogel how?

(4)

FROM: CO HUM, HKD dade import?

DATE: 7 May 1986

Dr Wilson

ruimisken. Zagree

PS/Mr Benton

Private Secretary

cc: Sir W Harding

JIM

UN

Sendan J

Stato дай

HONG KONG: PROPOSED VISIT BY UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF THE

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Problem

1. The Governor of Hong Kong has recommended that on his

visit to London in September he should bring the Unofficial

members of ExCo to call on the Prime Minister and the

Secretary of State.

Recommendation

A

2.

I

recommend that we accept the Governor's proposal.

submit a draft letter to No 10 Downing Street.

Background and Argument

3.

H

This is set out very cogently in the Governor's telno 1328. I think he is quite right in arguing that calls on

senior Ministers would be in the spirit of our exchanges

with the Unofficials over the negotiations on Hong Kong's

future; that they would be useful in balancing the high

level attention shown by Peking to prominent Hong

Hong Kong personalities; and that the proposed timing should avoid any

particularly sensitive or contentious issues. (On the last

point, we shall be embarking on the first stages of the review of representative government in Hong Kong, but it will probably be some time before any hard decisions need to be taken.)

CONFIDENTIAL