CONFIDENTIAL
2
-
that its format should be suitable for our use post 1997 to take, say, the lower three floors or however many suited our purpose.. I see no point in considering Beaconsfield House undeveloped as a solution. If we use a new building on that site we should put all our services into it.
5.
an
-
The problem is finance. Mr Holloway told me of the meeting of a committee under Mr Ford's chairmanship at which enquiry about the possibility of a gift of accommodation or a "friendship price" made by Mr Holloway was received in stony silence. The Governor confirmed to me that any such arrangement would present serious difficulties. My two private sector contacts with whom I made no mention of course of particular sites, took a different line. Mr Gordon Wu said that we should choose our moment go to Peking, explain to the Chinese Government the advantages which would accrue from the suitable accommodation of both the Chinese MFA and the British Consulate-General at Hong Kong Government expense and leave it to the Chinese to square any political difficulties in Hong Kong. Mr Rich at Hong Kong Land said bluntly that it was or should be unthinkable that we should be other than well-housed, that at it was demeaning to have the British Government looking around for
cut-price property for the post 1997 period and that pressure should be brought to bear on the Hong Kong Government to do the decent thing. It was after all in Hong Kong's interest that our presence after 1997 should be well-established.
Com
6. I did not pursue any of these conversations to a point at which there could have been embarrassment. But I sought to leave with both the Governor and Mr Ford the impression that, however trivial the question might seem in terms of the major issues at stake in relations between London, Hong Kong and Peking over the next 10 years the sums involved in purchasing suitable office accommodation for the Consulate-General were not easy for us to find and that without some help from the Hong Kong Government a seemingly trivial matter could become a serious embarrassment. At the limit we can of course find sums of this nature out of our resources but only at the cost of other important and cost- effective projects. Within the next five years we may find ourselves in a position in which we have again to think of reducing the size of the Service or closing posts if we secure no relief from the squeeze. I should be grateful if Mr McLaren would give consideration to whether and how we might bring pressure to bear on the Hong Kong Government to reduce the burden likely to fall on the FCO budget. It may well be that others more experienced in this field can see their way forward more clearly than was possible for me on this short visit.
し
Chune wheat
Wen
Our
hulling of thei ou
Sveins entrée, whil
sholt
занятия
Cra
லி.
WR Tomkys
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.