TNAG-2621-FCO40-3812-Visits-by-Alastair-Goodlad--Minister-of-State-for-Foreign-an-1992 — Page 122

CONFIDENTIAL

36

HKD 026/13

FROM: P F Ricketts

Hong Kong Department

DATE: 15 May 1992

cc: Sir J Coles,

(Steering brief only)

Mr Davies, FED,

(Steering brief only)

Mr Everett, News D,

(with briefs)

Mr Burns

PS/Mr Goodlad

MR GOODLAD ́S VISIT TO HONG KONG: 24-28 MAY

1.

I submit briefing for this visit.

2. The aim I suggest should be to meet as wide a range of

people as possible, inside and outside Government and

politics, and to gain a rounded impression of the issues that matter most to the people of Hong Kong. The Minister will be subject to intense media scrutiny from the moment of his arrival: every comment to the press will be reported and analysed in the newspapers, and there will be heavy coverage in the electronic media. In presenting his objectives for the visit, the Minister might wish to bear in mind that he is the fifth Minister of State with special responsibilities for Hong Kong in the present Governor's time. It will therefore be worth if at all possible avoiding the impression of yet another new Minister coming to listen and

learn'. Mr Goodlad might wish to emphasise his previous experience of doing business in Hong Kong and Asia, as well as his position as a Commons Minister (a distinct plus in

Hong Kong). Overall, the message might be that his first

RB3ACW/1

CONFIDENTIAL