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5. I said that I would be grateful for Mr Jenkins's advice. I was not at all clear, speaking quite frankly, how we could act effectively to improve the press's understanding of the problem or to get them to give due acknowledgement of
of the substantial progress that had been achieved, particularly on the Basic Law. I said and Mr Jenkins agreed that the Basic Law was of overriding importance. If that did not come out right we could forget the question of British investment and support for British companies. We had to focus on the most important issue over the next 12 months or so before the final version was published.
But he
6.
Mr Jenkins promised to give this some thought. When I suggested that we might perhaps consider proposing to the Hong Kong Government that they should invite some senior editors and leader writers to visit Hong Kong, he thought this might have some merit. said that more enticing from the point of view of the journalists would be the idea of an invitation to a seminar (involving academics and officials also) in Hong Kong as one day in a programme of, say, three days, which would allow participants to see something of the Colony and meet and talk to leading opinion-formers. This might be followed up with some form of debriefing seminar in London a week or so later. In Mr Jenkins's view this would be a more appetising prospect to key journalists than single invitations one-by-one. Although he did not say so, I think he himself might be tempted by an invitation on these lines.
7. We left it at that. But I made it clear that I saw some disadvantages in the idea of a seminar on the lines he had proposed. A visit of leading editors in a bunch would be bound to attract considerable interest in Hong Kong - and it would, I assume, be impossible to keep the operation secret. There would thus be a self-evident danger that all the well known lobbyists would form up in ranks to say their usual piece and plug their usual line. Nonetheless, I would be grateful if you could give some thought to this. Meanwhile, I will keep in touch with Mr Jenkins, whom I know well personally to see if he has any other constructive ideas. He was throughout sympathetic to and understanding of our problems.
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DH Gillmore
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