TNAG-1594-FCO40-2179-Honk-Kong-leading-personality-Sir-Yue-Kong-Pao--businessman-1987 — Page 7

DRAFT

Private Secretary

FROM:

Richard Fletcher-Cooke

DATE:

Far Eastern Department 11 January 1987

CC:

CRD

HKD

SIR Y K PAO: PROVISION OF LIBRARIES IN CHINA AND UK

1

A

1.

As requested in your minute of 16 December, I submit

a draft reply from the Secretary of State to Sir Y K Pao

on the exchange of Libraries. CRD, HKD, DTI, the British

Council, the Office of Arts and Libraries (OAL), and the

University Grants Committee all concur.

2. The British Overseas Trade Board have written to the

Sino-British Trade Council (Flag A) seeking their views

on the possibility of joining in the sponsorship of the

Ningbo library and either the Secretary of State or perhaps Lord Young will wish to follow up on this when we have had a response. The University Grants Committee are discreetly investigating possible locations for the UK library, and a possible financial split between

constructions costs and book purchase. But the UGC have

commented that £2 million will not go very far, if it is

to include construction costs (as Sir Y K Pao's letter

suggests). The OAL has similarly commented that we, or more particularly the recipient university, will need to

ensure that the running costs do not become a heavy

financial burden.

F10AAQ

Richard Fletcher-Cooke