TNAG-2702-FCO40-3908-Memoirs-of-Sir-Percy-Cradock--diplomat-and-sinologist-1993 — Page 127

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CONFIDENTIAL

RECL

IN

IN REGISTRY

11 AUG 1993

RECORD OF SIR P CRADOCK'S CALL ON SIR J COLES 6

COLES,

REGISTRY

ACDOL

AUGUST

28

Present

Sir J Coles

Mr Hum

Mr Morris, HKD

Sir P Cradock

1.

Sir J Coles said that he understood that Sir P Cradock was not yet committing himself to amend Chapters 23 and 24 of his memoirs; this meeting was simply an exploration of the possibilities. We had two criteria for seeking amendments to the passages which caused us difficulty:

either that the passages would make HMG's or the Governor's work more difficult;

or that they were factually misleading.

Sir J Coles then spoke in the terms of the attached Annex of Specific Textual Amendments. (Sir P Cradock's responses are detailed in the annex.)

2.

3.

Sir P Cradock, summing up, disagreed that many of our points were factual. In his view the majority fell into the field of opinion. We seemed to be asking for his book to produce support for the Government's point of view. That was an extreme demand. The point of the book was the author's views. He accepted that in the end our view would prevail that was the up-shot of the discussion with Sir R Butler and Sir J Coles. The general feeling he got was that we could allow scarcely any dissent. In his view, a chapter which had life in it was being reduced to a White Paper.

4.

in

Sir J Coles recalled that our proposed amendments were based on the two criteria he had set out. While some were factual, all other cases we believed they would make the Government's job more difficult. In the end it was the cumulative effect that mattered. It was emphatically not our job to suppress criticism. Even if Sir P Cradock accepted all of our amendments, the resulting text would still be critical of HMG.

5.

and

Sir P Cradock asked if, in that case, we would undertake: (a) to confirm, if asked, that HMG had approved the text; (b) that neither HMG, nor the Governor, would criticise it? If he amended the text, then the Governor criticised it, it would seem that we were having it both ways. Otherwise, what was he doing it for? Sir J Coles hoped that he shared our objective not to make the Government's job more difficult. But these were questions for the Cabinet Secretary. Sir P Cradock said that it was rather like his visit to Peking, where he had tried to avoid trouble but was still criticised. He would rather be hung for a sheep than for a lamb. He genuinely believed that what had

jm.lett.JM

SLM

CONFIDENTIAL