TNAG-2715-FCO40-3921-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 37

CONFIDENTIAL

FM FCO

TO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG

TELNO 938

OF 291541Z OCTOBER 93

AND TO IMMEDIATE PEKING

CONFIDENTIAL

p.c. FAC (011 (8)

(94)

015452 MDHOAN 0293

HUB 011/3 нив

MERY

1393

MISTRY

Q DIST?

TOP COPY

PERSONAL FOR PS/GH FROM HKD

YOUR TELNO. 1682: FAC: REQUEST FOR EVIDENCE FROM AN FCO LEGAL ADVISER

1.

Ministers have agreed that Kevin Chamberlain, Deputy Legal Adviser and Hum, AUSS should give evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee, and that they should be supported by other officials. The Committee have now/now agreed that this will be a separate session from the one they are setting up with a panel of outside Legal experts. (As a matter of policy, we do not think it would be right to subject a senior legal adviser to a forum in which his views are likely to be compared directly with those of other panel members).

2.

We welcome your kind offer to send David Edwards in support. His expert knowledge of the issues involved will be invaluable. However, in order to avoid any opportunity of wedge driving between UK and Hong Kong Legal opinion, we have made clear to the Committee that Mr Edwards will be attending in an advisory capacity, not/not as a witness. Ms Barrett (in the absence of Miss Brooks) will be present in a similar capacity.

3. The Committee Clerk has told us that on current plans our witnesses would appear at 10.30 on 3 November. They will be followed immediately by two other evidence sessions. The first will be the panel of Lawyers (Peter Duffy, Barrister dealing in HK Law, Peter Flinn, Head of Law Dept at SOAS, and Perry Keller, Lecturer at Manchester University). The final session will be with the June 4th China Support Group. The FAC are expected to issue a press release about this. We shall send a copy as soon as possible.

HURD

PAGE 1 CONFIDENTIAL