TNAG-2233-FCO40-3206-Visits-by-the-Office-of-Members-of-the-Executive-and-Legisla-1991 — Page 22

this 02712

Нив

Huis 07-

ED

FROM: P F Ricketts

Hong Kong Department

DATE: 18 November 1991

Private Secretary

cc: PS/Lord Caithness

Sir J Coles

Mr Burns o/r

SECRETARY OF STATE ́S MEETING WITH BARONESS DUNN:

1900 18 NOVEMBER 1991

1.

I submit a check list of points for this meeting,

together with minimal background. Baroness Dunn will also

be seeing Lord Caithness on 19 November: I hope that the

same points could serve for that meeting.

2. Baroness Dunn is likely to want to talk about the

political situation in Hong Kong. It has been an eventful few weeks since the LegCo elections: many LegCo members have

seized on the Court of Final Appeal issue as a chance to

assert their right to be consulted on relations with China.

It would be worth exploring with Baroness Dunn how a more co-operative relationship can be forged with the new LegCo, without further fueling Chinese suspicions. The traditional links between unofficial members of ExCo and of LegCo (the

OMELCO system) are under attack from the Liberals who would

prefer to see a clean break between ExCo and LegCo.

Baroness Dunn feels these growing strains, and they were

also behind the resignation last week of Allen Lee as senior member of LegCo.

Libelts

ALKABI/1

PF Ricketts

176

75