Media(2
Ms K Saunders
Hong Kong Department
WH 311
BBC WORLD SERVICE/RTHK
bruary
Reference.
MMB
pr
1101 APPAR 199091
INLAY
19 11
EGISTRY
sion Teken.
Your minute of 5 February and the minutes by Mr Dalton and Mr Parker of 5 and 6 February (copies attached) refer.
1.
A
B
ло
2.
It is clear that under Article 4 of the BBC's charter the corporation has to obtain the Secretary of State's approval before entering into any agreement with the government of any part of the Commonwealth. Before we make any recommendation to the Secretary of State I should welcome your views on the following.
3. So far HKD and the Legal Advisers have considered this question only in terms of whether the Secretary of State's approval was needed or not. Without wishing to make a meal of what is perhaps a routine matter, should we not also consider whether there might be any practical objection to the Secretary of State giving his approval. Do we know why the Hong Kong government have insisted upon it? Is it their practice to try to secure the signatures of British Ministers on anything which involves a residual British presence beyond 1997 in order to make it easier to enforce? If so, is HKD content for the Secretary of State to be involved in this particular case?
4. I should be grateful for a form of words to go into our submission explaining why, from HKD's point of view, we can/cannot recommend approval.
CODE 18-77
13
March 1991
CC:
N D Parker, Legal Adviser
JB5AFT
со
سلمساء
C J Ingham
Information Department OAB G/111 210-6120
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