13 Sec
Cc:
DA o.r.
HOPI
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Reference
RE
нко 021/7
зарк
13 APR 1993
13 APRI
2012
Mr Turner, NAD (please forward to
BY FAX
FED, HK Dept and SEAD)
DISCUSSION WITH JOHN TENNANT, DEA
1. I lunched today with John Tennant (Director General, Asia Pacific North Bureau, DEA).
12.
Tennant thought it likely that following Mulroney's announcement that he would be stepping down, Mrs McDougall would cut short her Tennant believed Far Eastern tour. She is about to leave Japan. she would still go to Hong Kong (partly for domestic political reasons). But she would now almost certainly not go to Cambodia.
3. Tennant said that according to the first reports her visit to Japan had gone reasonably well. She had had talks with the Prime Minister, the Acting Foreign Minister (the Foreign Minister being ill) and others. But, despite the good atmosphere, the Japanese had been short on answers to Mrs McDougall's questions. The follow-up to much of Forum 2000 was going well, but it remained unclear whether and on what scale the Japanese would be willing to support the proposed conflict prevention centre which the Canadians would like to see established, initially as a bilateral project, in British Columbia. Tennant explained that this would be largely academic in nature, possibly attached at first to an existing West Coast university. It would concentrate more on preventive diplomacy etc than on peacekeeping. It was hoped to involve other countries, both in research and through attendance at conferences.
14.
I said we naturally hoped that Mrs McDougall would carry out her visit to Hong Kong. We had warmly welcomed the Canadian support for the Governor's proposals. Tennant said that Mrs McDougall would be taking much the same line as she and Mulroney had taken during the Governor's visit here in November. He agreed that a visit would be a concrete symbol of renewed support.
15.
I gave Tennant a copy of the note on the Maltby Report prepared by MOD's Historical Branch (Army). He had not personally seen this. But he has been much involved in veteran matters since last year, when the Canadian Hong Kong veterans took their case to the UNHCR in Geneva. As you know, they are seeking Japanese compensation of $20,000 each (for veterans or their widows). The Canadian government has made clear that they cannot support this. veterans are already receiving war pensions in the order of $30,000 or more. If however the Japanese decided to compensate veterans of other nationalities (or even the Korean "comfort women"), the
Many
CODE 18-77
RESTRICTED
A
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