TNAG-2701-FCO40-3907-Memoirs-of-Sir-Percy-Cradock--diplomat-and-sinologist-1993 — Page 47

STRICTLY PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

Foreign & Commonwealth

Office

14

5 May 1993

BY FAX

Sir R McLaren KCMG

HM Ambassador

PEKING

HKB 010/2

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY 2 MAY 1993

INDI

REGISTRY

ut. Taken:

London SWIA 2AH

Telephone: 071-

Dan Robin,

SIR PERCY CRADOCK

*

1. I understand that Peter Ricketts briefed you in Peking on the Governor's sensitivity about Percy Cradock's planned visit to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Peking later this month. There have been a number of contacts between John Coles, the Governor and Mr Goodlad, on the basis of which John has now spoken to Percy Cradock. I wanted to bring you up to date.

2. The Governor raised his concerns in discussion on the secure telephone with Mr Goodlad along the same lines as he had done with FCO officials in Hong Kong. John Coles responded by writing to the Governor, to make two main points. First, John explained the limited extent of our knowledge of Percy Cradock's plans (briefly, this was that

Percy had mentioned to John in February his plan to visit Hong Kong and China in May; that there had been no obvious difficulty about timing at that stage; and that we had therefore tucked this information away assuming that there would be time enough to consider whether anything more should be done about it). He emphasised that there was no intention to keep anything from the Governor during the latter's visit to the UK in April. Second, John assured the Governor that press reports that FCO officials were working in opposition to him and his policies were codswallop. John also said that in his view it was better to keep Percy generally informed about the situation because he was then less likely to upset things unwittingly.

3. The Governor replied accepting John's codswallop thesis and paying tribute to the support and advice he had received from FCO officials in London, Hong Kong and Peking. But he

mclaren5.5LETTERS.NJH

STRICTLY PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL