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grateful for this note and for the Ricketts and
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courtesy
Mr Ricketts
PS/Mr Goodlad
Call.
6.J. Dorey.
3019.
mingiter
IME.
FROM: K A M Saunders
Hong Kong Department
DATE: 28 September 1993
cc: Mr Hum
Ms Everett, News Dept
A32919.
CALL ON MR GOODLAD BY TWO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ORIENTAL DAILY:
30 SEPTEMBER (9.30am)
1.
At the suggestion of Hong Kong the Minister has agreed to
see Messers C K Ma and Herman Hui of the Oriental Press Group.
This will be a discussion about plans for their Group, not an
interview.
Background
2. Earlier this month, Mr Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation
agreed to sell 34.9% of its 50% holding in South China Morning
Post publishing group to Kerry Holdings, owned by Mr Robert
Kwok. Mr Kwok is a Malaysian citizen, born in China, with business interests throughout the region, particularly in China. He has a 32% stake in Hong Kong's leading TV station, TVB. Mr
Kwok will be the new Chairman of SCMP. It is widely assumed in
Hong Kong that China had a hand in this deal.
3.
The assessment in Hong Kong is that under the new regime we
are likely to see a rapid erosion of the SCMP's (and the Wah Kiu
Yat Po's) editorial independence, and that the SCMP is likely to
become something like the Straits Times of Singapore and
sensitive to Chinese influence.
jour.min.PR
SLM
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