TNAG-2768-FCO40-3985-Hong-Kong-and-the-media-interviews--press-briefings-and-the--1993 — Page 115

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COVERING CONFIDENTIAL

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JONATHAN DIMBLEBY: HONG KONG

1.

HKCB 30/1

RECL

From: Sara Everett

News Department

Date: 9 June 1993

Cc:

PS

PS/Mr Goodlad Sir John Coles Mr Hum

Mr Cornish o/r

Jeking

Zoek 10/6

We discussed last week Jonathan Dimbleby's request to film Hong Kong policy making procedures.

2. As you know, Dimbleby has, for some time, been asking to film a policy meeting on Hong Kong, chaired by the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State has agreed, most recently at the time of his last meeting with the Governor on Friday 16 April, that Dimbleby should not film these meetings, but that we should offer him the opportunity to film less sensitive meetings.

3. When Dimbleby interviewed the Secretary of State for the film on 28 April he told Francis Cornish and I that he was now more interested in filming the procedures for formulating policy on Hong Kong rather than meetings. He understood fully the problems with filming sensitive policy meetings. He said that, around mid-June, he would like to film, for example, reports of the Peking talks reaching London (ie telegrams arriving in the FCO), handling of the reports in London and the process of determining the next steps. This will almost certainly require stage management, ie filming telegrams arriving in the Communications Centre, being dispatched to departments, HKD desk officers studying the reports and preparing replies, as well as possibly specially arranged meetings.

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4. I attach a possible timetable for filming which will, course, depend on what emerges from the next round of talks (14-16 June). We would need to consult Peking on our suggestions for filming there. The Dimbleby team travels regularly to Hong Kong but I am not sure whether they have plans to go to Peking at any stage. If you agree I propose that we tell the Dimbleby team that we should be in a position to offer them filming facilities within the next 2-3 weeks and suggest that we might meet to discuss these.

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