B
CONFIDENT IAL
C
informal appearance.
5.
The advice of our Embassy in Washington is also attached
(Washington telno 164). They point out that if we were to depart from our usual practice, precedent might cause difficulties if we were asked to appear before Committees investigating issues unwelcome to us (or likely to cause embarrassment with the US
administration). The Secretary of State was briefed to respond
accordingly if the issue had come up in his visit to Washington.
6. The Secretary of State's visit to Washington has served to give
a higher profile to the question of international support for Hong
Kong. We should capitalise quickly on that. Solarz's aim is
clearly to put pressure on the US administration, who have yet to
decide how to respond to our call for more support for Hong Kong.
An informal meeting with the Sub-Committee would help to maintain
the momentum.
A
7. We need to bear in mind, however, that Solarz is currently
out of favour with the Administration because of his attitude
towards the Pelosi Bill (legislation to permit PRC students to
rema in in the US). Washington telno 214 (attached) gives the
background. We want to avoid giving the impression of siding with Solarz against the Administration. The meeting would therefore need to be handled with particular care. Moreover, questioning
might stray into other areas, such as Vietnamese boat people, UK/China relations, UK immigration policy and it would therefore be
all the more important to ensure that the meeting took place in private and in confidence.
8. If Ministers are content, we will ask Washington to speak to
Solarz accordingly and ask his views on the best timing for such a
meeting.
ARPanc
A R Paul
CONF IDENTIAL
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