PERSONAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
D G Martin Esq
UK Rep JLG
HONG KONG
Telephone 01- 270-2655
HCD 30113
Our reference
Your reference
WAYACX
RECE
Date 4 August 1988
- 4 AUG 1988
INDEA
ICER
PA
30
Dent Dong,
DEALING WITH THE PRESS
1.
26
Alan Paul is replying separately to your letter of 17 July to Christopher Hum, having discussed matters with Robin McLaren. I gather he has also taken account of the helpful comments from Dick Clift and from Peking.
2. This round of correspondence has reminded me that I failed, contrary to my intentions, before your departure to give you some tips on the basis of my own experiences in Hong Kong. It is certainly true, as Alan says, that on the whole it is impossible to be sure that the majority of the Hong Kong press corps will respect confidences. (I recall with some embarrassment being landed in it on a few occasions!).
3. Nevertheless, there are one or two very good journalists who, provided you have made clear the ground rules of any particular interview, will respect your confidence, whether it be for purely background briefing or non-attributable but usable information. In this category I would put Simon Fung of RTHK; Matthew Leung of the Hong Kong Standard, (but not his colleague Wilson Wong, who is very persistent, tiresome and not always accurate); Fanny Wong of the Oriental Daily; and, whatever her faults in other directions, Emily Lau of the Far Eastern Economic Review.
4. I do not know how much you will be dealing with the British press, but they are generally pretty good, having rather more training and experience than their local colleagues. I always found Robert Cottrell (The Independent), Steve Vines (Guardian/Observer) and Dinah Lee (The Economist) good value, although none of them would win gold stars for being positive about Hong Kong's future.
5.
I hope this will be of some use to you.
Yours ever,
Chis
C T Wood
Hong Kong Department
PERSONAL
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