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5. We only had time to talk quickly about Mr Morrice's initiatives over the Royal Visit to Seoul and the Business Leaders' Forum meetings in Seoul and Hong Kong. I said the main point was for him to ensure the closest possible
consultation with Hong Kong and ourselves, so we could give him our views on the possible political sensitivities before he made commitments or launched initiatives. He took note a bit grumpily.
Objectives and functions of ATTC
6. We discussed the cbjectives and functions of ATTC Taipei on the basis of Mr Morrice's paper of 25 March. We agreed that the objectives in para 4 of the paper (clarifying the "normal FCO post" point) and the functions in para 8 (giving a lesser priority to political reporting) should now be turned into a properly structured set of objectives approved by us in the normal way. Correspondence on his quasi-consular activities and on visa handling would continue on the present channels.
Anglo-Taiwan Education Centre (ATEC)
7. I gave Mr Morrice the good news on the readiness of the British Council to take over and finance ATEC. He was pleased, and looks forward to the further British Council visit. I added that if the British Council did take over ATEC's operations at the beginning of the next financial year this might be a sensible moment to give the Taipei operation a new name more appropriate to the broader range of activities he would then supervise.
Staffing
8. Mr Morrice explained his ideas on staffing, elaborating on para 8 of his recent letter to you. I said they sounded modest and sensible: he was wise to be looking for more locally-engaged staff rather than UK-based reinforcements. will now write formally to RMD.
Other practical points
He
9. I explained briefly to Mr Morrice what we were doing over his suspicions that his communications were being interfered with. He was grateful. He now needs a letter from FED, agreed with Security Department.
Comment
10. I hope this discussion will have cleared the air. Mr Morrice is clearly feeling a bit beleagured in the alien environment of Taiwan. He also finds it tough licking into shape an operation which up to now has been virtually
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