TNAG-2621-FCO40-3812-Visits-by-Alastair-Goodlad--Minister-of-State-for-Foreign-an-1992 — Page 168

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Ocean Stone,

CONFIDENTIAL

Mas Saunders | Seponte copies

in Woodrow

(27)

This

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on amended verlin

FROM: P F Ricketts

Mr Burns

mi cox fi.

cund

Hong Kong Department

DATE: 12 May 1992

any comments in clutes has seen WB may with to mahou make make.

PS/Mr Goodlad

HICO 026/13

Bialu.

100

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

1.

The aim of Mr Goodlad's introductory visit as Minister

of State 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 overseas visit as Minister is to Hong Kong in order to

update his previous experience of the territory and to hear

at first hand the views of people from many different

backgrounds.

2. The programme (current version attached) reflects the

Minister's comments. It is getting crowded, it includes

RB3ACW/1

CONFIDENTIAL