TNAG-2790-FCO40-4029-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1993 — Page 137

CONFIDENTIAL

NCC

014/1

SIM DECISTRY

AUG 1993

FROM:

PF Ricketts

Hong Kong Department

"C:STRY

on Taken

DATE:

25 August 1993

Mr Eastwood

Director of Research

RAD

File (70

ASSESSMENT OF RAD'S 1992/93 WORKING PRACTICE AGREEMENT WITH HONG KONG DEPARTMENT

I

I have just learned that we should have sent you some time ago my evaluation of Far East Section's performance in 1992/93 against the terms of the WPA and more generally. apologise for the delay in getting this to you.

1.

2.

There is, in fact, little to say. I consider that we have a close and effective working relationship with Far East Section. Mr Wye attends my Monday morning meeting, receives copies of all significant papers likely to be of interest to him, and keeps in close touch with the work of the Department. As the list of work done during 1992/93 on Hong Kong shows, we use the Section mainly for short-notice operational-type research. This, and absences in the Section, have meant that the longer term projects have not yet been completed. They figure again in the draft 1993/94 agreement and will be useful when completed. But I am content that the right priorities were applied. It is particularly useful to the Department to have expertise on tap for short-notice tasks related to our day to day operations.

3.

We can for the moment rely on the Hong Kong Government to do most of the longer term and labour-intensive research work. But in less than four years, the Hong Kong Government will cease to exist. I attach importance to building up and maintaining a detailed working knowledge in RAD of our continuing exchanges with the Chinese on issues which are likely still to be relevant after 1997, such as the highly complex negotiations we have been conducting over the last six months on electoral issues. Keeping abreast of these subjects inevitably does not figure in a Working Practices Agreement, but it is a key task for the Section. And I am glad that in the course of the year we have secured the

eastwood24.8/MIN/NJH

CONFIDENTIAL