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HONG KONG : INFORMATION WORK
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pa BIC Information
(new file) © B/4 215736
RA Burns
7 February 1991
Mr McLaren
Mr Davies, FED Mr Harris,
2319
Information Dept Mr Lamport, POD
1. Mr Heap has not yet replied to my telegram (FCO Telno 4 of 2 January) about the different views taken by the Inspectors and in his TMR return about the direction of Mr Osborne's work in Hong Kong. He has, however, made it clear that he welcomed my comments and much appreciated Mr Osborne's contribution on the political side. He made two fair points:-
2.
(i)
When seeking views on press management of British interests, we should put our questions to the BTC as a whole, not just to Mr Osborne, so that Mr Heap has an opportunity to comment in real time. He has, of course, long experience of press work overseas and good media contacts of his own.
(ii) Mr Osborne's role went wider than simply to act
as a transplanted spokesman. There was a lot to do on the information front and the spokesman role was a full-time one. The Press Officer needed to be pro-active and not just wait for the questions to come in. I encouraged Mr Heap to guide Mr Osborne in developing his range, while stressing the importance of the defence of our political interests in the HK media. must continue to monitor this.
We
Looking ahead, I can see that there may be a need in the BTC for a First Secretary who will be made a Chancery animal doing political and information work but devolving most of the commercial information work to a colleague. But it will also be worth considering before then how far the BTC (Consultate-General to be) should plan to exploit Hong Kong's position and advantages to develop a regional information role particularly in China - along the lines of some of our other information efforts like BIS New York.
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