TNAG-2077-FCO40-2957-Hong-Kong-culture-1990 — Page 186

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

CONFIDENTIAL

a lecturers at Colleges of

Education

D. Prince of Wales Fund for Training

£2.769 million

in New Technologies

Details of all these proposals and their costs are set out in

Annexes A-B.

ѝ

5. During his visit to Hong Kong in January, the Secretary of State discussed these proposals briefly with the British Council representative and expressed particular interest in support for

English language teaching. The Secretary of State had been

surprised at the relatively poor standard of English spoken by many

of the Chinese he met.

ARGUMENT

Assessment of the proposals

A. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

6.

A substantial British contribution to the new Hong Kong

University of Science and Technology such as the endowment of a

Research Centre in a high technology field of commercial significance would make a major impact in Hong Kong. It would be a visible and lasting demonstration of Britain's commitment to the

expansion of advanced education in the territory. It would give due

recognition to Hong Kong's aspirations to become a centre of

technological excellence in the region. A particular obstacle to

Hong Kong's economic success in the future is the absence of a

centre for applied research (the two existing universities are

primarily under-graduate teaching institutions) and for technology

transfer (most Hong Kong companies are still family owned businesses operating at a very low technological level). The new university

(which will be modelled on MIT' should therefore make a vital

contribution to Hong Kong's continued prosperity. The endowment of a Research Centre in a high technology field will help to secure

British involvement in what is likely to be one of the leading

SAIARC(3)

CONFIDENTIAL

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