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Note for file
BRIEFING FOR NEW GOVERNOR
On 22 June 1992 LAS and I called at FCO to brief the Rt Hon Christopher Patten who takes up his appointment as Governor and Commander in Chief, Hong Kong next month.
Mr Patten was aware of the Commission's work as his father in law is buried in one of our Normandy cemeteries and he has seen other sites during private motoring holidays in France and official visits around the world.
We explained our commitment in Hong Kong and our particular concerns as 1997 approached. He had read the brief but we enlarged upon our desire for a war graves agreement and our efforts to amend the legislation. We drew comparisons with our operations elsewhere (where we worked directly with a local supervisor with assistance from the Embassy/High Commission) and explained our difficulty in having in this case to use third parties in our efforts to open negotiations.
We stressed our good relations with USD and said that we wanted as firm a position as possible by the time the Chinese took over. Mr Patten thought that they would be sympathetic to our work and asked what he could do. We replied that we should like to hear of progress on CWGC matters in the discussions between the British and the Chinese. He said that it was a sensitive time at the moment but that the situation was expected to improve when the war cemeteries question could be raised. We emphasised the point that we did not want to wait and wait and then be told that we were too late. He took that point and said he would, if reminded, raise our interest at an appropriate time.
He seemed amenable and we should make a note to remind him of our concerns, either by letter or call, towards the end of the year. should continue to press through FCO and USD but bring in the Governor and follow up on this initial contact.
We
RJ DALLEY
R J Dalley
Deputy Director-General (Operations)
23 June 1992
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