CONFIDENTIAL
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2 -
26 November 1990
5. After his departure I had a typically stern phone call from Mrs Anson Chan. John Fletcher had already told me that they had had a stormy meeting. She said John Fletcher had alleged that playing fields in Hong Kong were tilted against British companies, and that the pre-emptive bid concept had been rejected because it was coming from a British group. She said she had told him, and wanted me to make it quite clear to others, that both were quite wrong. They were not willing to accept a pre-emptive bid because it would be impossible to judge at this time without other bids with which to compare it and because final parameters had not been determined. British
firms in general were viewed just as any other and received no more nor less consideration than those from elsewhere: there was no tilting of the playing fields.
6. While here John Fletcher also had a meeting with Stuart Elliot of Hopewell. Gordon Wu was away. Elliot I gather
said they would be interested in joining with AJC in bidding for the main bridge which John Fletcher said they would consider. You will recall that this has been on and off over the last 18 months.
Yours
Peler
PW Heap
Copy: Alan Paul Esq
Head of HKD
FCO
CONFIDENTIAL
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