TNAG-2621-FCO40-3812-Visits-by-Alastair-Goodlad--Minister-of-State-for-Foreign-an-1992 — Page 32

CONFIDENTIAL

SI

Me kentuelt

Think

ink you

P

ut in

16.

REC

HKD 226/13

0 2 JUN 1992

FROM: P F Ricketts

OFFICEF

Hong Kong Department

MISTRY

mmi Takun

B

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/MrGoodlad

PS/ME/

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

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

learn'.

RB3ACW/1

CONFIDENTIAL